An Extra Edge
by Lobo Argost
Summary: Naruto recieves a powerful weapon at the end of the Land of Waves mission, and attracts attention from a pottential ally, or enemy. Naru/Saku all the way.
1. Mission 1: New Beginning

An Extra Edge

Welcome to An Extra Edge. This is pretty much an AU starting at the end of the Land of Waves arc. Naruto will go through his adventures and missions with a neat weapon. Details will be revealed within.

**Legal Stuff: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Just my fics and ocs.**

Naruto looked at Zabuza as he lay next to Haku, dieing.

"Boy," Zabuza said. "Your name's Naruto, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Naruto said, looking at the dieing swordsman.

"Come here," Zabuza said.

Naruto went over and knelt by Zabuza's side. "What is it?"

"My sword, the Kubikiri Hocho, I want you to have it," Zabuza said.

"Why?" Naruto asked, confused.

"I can't shake this feeling that it belongs with you," Zabuza said.

"How am I supposed to carry it?" Naruto asked, looking at the sword. "It's taller and heavier than I am."

"You can unscrew the hilt off to make it compact to a fourth of its length, and carrying it will be good strength training," Zabuza said. "Please, take the sword. It belongs with you; that much I know."

Naruto nodded. "Alright. I'll take it."

Zabuza nodded. "Thank you." As those words left his mouth, Zabuza left this world, his eyes still staring out, cold and lifeless.

Naruto's face took its determined expression as he reached out and closed Zabuza's eyes. "Zabuza, I swear to you, I'll learn to wield that sword, and I'll do it with pride," he vowed as he stood and walked over to the Kubikiri, unscrewing its hilt from it. Sure enough, the blade compacted to a fourth of its length. "Now the hard part," he muttered as he went to lift the blade, expecting it to be too heavy, instead, it was as light as if it were made of wood. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. "This thing feels so light!"

"Amazing!" Sakura said as Kakashi helped Naruto strap it to his back. Naruto then put the hilt in his pack.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, you gotta admit, this sword looks pretty cool, huh?" Naruto asked his crush.

"I guess it's kinda cool," Sakura said.

"_Cha! He might actually be cooler than Sasuke!"_ Inner Sakura screamed.

"Hey! Now that Gato's dead, who's gonna pay us?" one of Gato's thugs asked.

"I guess we'll just take whatever valuables are in town," another thug said, making Naruto frown.

"You're not getting our stuff!" Inari yelled, backed by the people.

Naruto grinned and crossed his index and middle fingers. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he exclaimed, a large number of Shadow Clones appearing around him in a huge puff of smoke.

"Well, I may have enough chakra left to help out," Kakashi said, making the same hand sign, creating a large number of Shadow Clones. "Still want to fight?" he and his clones asked together.

The new man power made the thugs flee in terror.

"Yeah! We did it!" Naruto yelled as he and Kakashi dispelled the Shadow Clones.

"Come on guys," Kakashi said, covering his Sharingan. "Our mission is complete. Let's get back to the village."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in the Village Hidden in the Mist, the Demon Brothers, Gozu and Mezu, were brought before the Mizukage, who regarded them with a cold look.

"The Demon Brothers, Gozu and Mezu, you became rouge ninja along side Zabuza Momochi after he failed to assassinate my predecessor, the Fourth Mizukage. And were recently apprehended by the copy ninja, Kakashi Hatake. Am I correct?" she asked.

"Yes, you are," Gozu said.

"As traitors, you are sentenced to death, to be carried out immediately," Lady Mizukage said.

"Where would be the fun in simply executing them?" a girl in the shadows asked.

"What do you mean, Lan Fan?" Lady Mizukage asked.

"I think she wants us to kill them," a boy next Lan Fan said.

"Is that so, Fu?" Lady Mizukage asked.

"Lady Mizukage, you should have a bit more confidence in us," a third boy, hunched over between Fu and Lan Fan said. "We're more talented than we look, though we are genin."

"You really want to, Ling?" Lady Mizukage asked.

"I'd like to give them a fighting chance," Ling said. "Give them their weapons and let them fight Lan Fan, Fu, and myself."

"Very well," Lady Mizukage said as Gozu and Mezu had their weapons returned.

The moment they did, they went at the Mizukage.

"I don't think so," Fu said as several white spiders dropped onto the Brothers' chain and blew up, separating the brothers.

"You have to go through us," Lan Fan said, throwing a senbon into Gozu's brain stem, killing him instantly.

"I'll still kill the Mizukage!" Gozu yelled as Ling appeared between him and the Mizukage. "Outta the way, kid!" he yelled, his poisoned claws stopping just short of Ling's veiled face, a large, mechanical stinger in his shoulder, coming from under Ling's cloak.

"You are a fool," Ling said, pushing him away.

"You little brat!" Mezu yelled, trying to stand but felt dizzy. "What the hell?"

"Don't do anything to him," Ling said to the ANBU. "I'll just let the poison take its course."

"Poison?" Gozu gasped.

"Your suffering will be unimaginable, but it will be over in less than 20 minutes," Ling said in a voice much deeper than a guy his age should have.

"You three are good," Lady Mizukage said. "May."

"Yes, Lady Mizukage?" an old woman asked, emerging from the shadows.

"I want your students here registered for the Chunin Exams," Lady Mizukage said.

"Awesome! We're going to the Chunin Exams!" Fu said happily as a messenger appeared in front of Ling, whispering a message in his ear before leaving.

"What is it, Ling?" Lady Mizukage asked.

"It seems that Zabuza has perished, and his sword has fallen into the hands of a Leaf Shinobi, named Naruto Uzumaki," Ling said.

"He's in trouble then, if Ling decides to try taking the sword from him," Fu said as Ling pondered what the future would hold.

"If he beat Zabuza, then this kid must really be something," Lan Fan said, daydreaming about a big strong guy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Over in the Leaf, Naruto had just finished a bowl of Ichiraku ramen and was about to ask for another when he sneezed.

"You feeling okay, Naruto?" Ayame asked.

"Yeah, probably someone talking about me somewhere," Naruto said. "Another bowl please!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I apologize for the short first chapter, but there will be more action in the following chapters. I bid you all a most respectful farewell.


	2. Mission 2: Dark Forest

An Extra Edge

Welcome back to An Extra Edge. The Chunin Exams are approaching, and Naruto has the attention of a mysterious Mist ninja. What kind of person is Ling? That's for me to know and you not to know. More fun for me.

**Legal Stuff: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Just my fic and ocs.**

Naruto was covered in sweat as he finished another practice session with the Kubikiri Hocho.

"Naruto! Take a break and have some lunch!" Sakura said.

"Sure thing, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, unscrewing the sword's hilt and putting the compacted blade on his back and the hilt in his pocket before sitting next to Sakura, who handed him a bento box. He had noticed that ever since they had returned from the Land of Waves, she was being a lot nicer to him. "Thanks, Sakura-chan," he said as he opened the box and started eating.

Sakura took a bite of her own food as she watched him eat, smiling. 'He's actually kinda cute,' she thought.

_'Cha! We should get a date with him!'_ Inner Sakura yelled, making Sakura blush.

Naruto looked at Sakura. "Hey, Sakura-chan, your face is red. You have a fever?" he asked, concerned.

Sakura blushed even deeper and looked away from him. "I'm fine. It's nothing, really!"

"Okay," Naruto said, giving her his trademark grin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ling looked around as he and his teammates entered the village. "So, this is the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

"Nice place," Fu said, looking around. "Wonder who those faces on the mountain belong to."

"Idiot! Those are obviously the past and present Hokage," Lan Fan snapped as Ling looked at the mountain.

"Yes, they are," Ling said. "Hashirama Senju: the First Hokage, Tobirama Senju: the Second Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi: the Third Hokage, and Minato Namikaze: the Fourth Hokage," he said, turning to his teammates. "I'm going into the village to look around. You two are left to your own devices until I return. But do try to stay out of trouble." With that, he headed into the village, quickly disappearing from sight.

"Alright, let's look around, see the sights," Fu said, wandering off, followed by Lan Fan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto and Sakura were walking together when Naruto noticed something behind them. "Hey Sakura-chan, you seeing what I'm seeing?" he asked, looking at the rock.

"Yeah, a really bad Disguise Jutsu," Sakura said, kicking the rock off the person using it.

"Hey! Why'd you have to do that?" Konahamaru asked, very indignant.

"A square rock with eye holes is pretty obvious, Konahamaru," Sakura said.

"Yeah, you really need to work on that," Naruto said.

"Well, I should head home," Sakura said. "See you later, Naruto," she said, walking away from the boys.

"Hey boss, how can you stand her?" Konahamaru asked Naruto. "Did you see how big her forehead is?" he asked a little too loudly.

"What did you say?" Sakura asked, slowly turning to look at him, before running at him, letting murderous intent off in waves.

"I'd run if I were you," Naruto said to Konahamaru, who started running away from the homicidal girl, and ran into another girl and fell down.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Lan Fan snapped, picking Konahamaru up by his shirt.

"Put me down! Put me down!" Konahamaru begged.

"Leave him alone!" Sakura yelled.

"Lan Fan, you really think that's a good idea?" Fu asked.

"Fu, we've got time before he gets back. Let's mess with this punk," Lan Fan said, wearing a sadistic smile as she reared her fist back, only for a rock to hit her hand, making it release Konahamaru. "What the hell?" she asked, shaking her hand a bit.

"You're a long way from home, and way out of your league," Sasuke said from a tree nearby, tossing another rock up and down in his hand.

'Local hottie,' Lan Fan thought as Sasuke crushed the rock into dust. "I think I'll have more fun with you," she said, reaching for the shuriken on her back.

"Lan Fan, I believe I told you and Fu to stay out of trouble," Ling said, making her stop dead in her tracks. "I apologize for my teammate's behavior," he said, looking at Naruto and Sakura before turning away from them. "Fu, Lan Fan, let's go."

Sasuke jumped down from the tree as they started walking away. 'I didn't even notice him until he spoke. Who is this guy?' he thought. "You. Identify yourself," he said, making Ling and his teammates stop and look at him.

"Who? Me?" Lan Fan asked, blushing lightly.

"Not you," Sasuke said. "The hunchback."

Ling looked at him. "My name is Ling Osoreida. And I'm curious about you as well."

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke said.

"Ah. An Uchiha," Ling said. "I thought your clan was extinct."

"Not quite, but you seem to be well informed," Sasuke said.

"I like to keep track of current events," Ling said, turning to leave. "Fu, Lan Fan, come."

"Wait!" Naruto yelled, getting Ling's attention.

"What?" Ling asked, beginning to lose his patience.

"I bet you're dieing to know my name, right?" Naruto asked.

"I don't care who you are," Ling said, making Naruto go into anime depression.

"It's always about Sasuke," Naruto muttered.

"Come on, Naruto, don't feel bad. You'll show him not to underestimate you," Sakura said, trying to cheer him up.

"Although," Ling said, getting Naruto's attention. "Has anyone ever told you that you bear a striking resemblance to Minato Namikaze?"

Naruto looked at him confused. "Who's Minato Namikaze?"

"You idiot! That's the name of the Fourth Hokage," Sakura said before looking at Ling and his teammates. "I can tell from your headbands, that you're from the Village Hidden in the Mist. The Leaf and Mist Villages may be allies, but ninja are forbidden to enter a hidden village other than their own without permission."

"We have permission," Fu said. "We're here for the Chunin Exams."

"The Chunin Exams?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. They are being held in the Leaf Village this year," Ling said, turning to leave again. "Let's go, Fu, Lan Fan. We've wasted enough time," he said before they left.

"Hey guys," Kakashi said from behind them.

"Kakashi Sensei," Naruto said. "What do you want?"

"To tell you three that I recommended you for the Chunin Exams," Kakashi said, handing them the registration forms.

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed. "I get to show up that Ling guy!"

"Ling?" Kakashi asked.

"This hunchback from the Mist Village. I'll show him not to underestimate me!" Naruto vowed.

"If you're talking about Ling Osoreida, then be careful," Kakashi said.

"You know about him?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah. He's developed quite a reputation as a prodigy," Kakashi said.

"Should be interesting then," Sasuke said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Before long, the day of the exams arrived.

"Alright, we need to head up to room 301," Sasuke said as they entered the academy.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked, seeing a commotion outside the exam room.

"Please move out of our way," a boy in a green jumpsuit said, trying to go past a couple of boys blocking the door, only to be knocked down.

"Lee!" a girl in a pink shirt with buns in her hair yelped, knelling beside him to see if he was okay. "Please, let us through," she said, trying to go past them, getting knocked down as well.

"Nice try," the guy who knocked her down said before a huge stinger type tail wrapped around his wrist. "What the?"

Everyone looked where the tail came from, finding Ling to be its source.

"Really now. Haven't you any manners?" Lan Fan asked. "A man should be attentive when a lady speaks to him."

"Let's go, you two," Ling said to his teammates as he released the other genin's arm and drew the stinger tail back beneath his cloak as he passed the room entirely.

"Hey, where are you going?" a random genin asked.

"To the exam room," Fu said.

"This is the exam room," the genin said.

"If you can't see through such a pathetic genjutsu, then you don't belong here," Lan Fan said.

"Genjutsu?" the genin asked, confused with the others.

"Room 301 is on the third floor," Ling said. "This is the second floor," he said, dispelling the genjutsu, revealing the room to be 201.

"Those three are pretty sharp," one of the two genin said as the others left.

"Got that right," the other said as they undid their transformations, revealing themselves to be jonin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura entered the exam room, finding a large group of genin from other villages, along with plenty of Leaf genin.

"So, you're taking part in the exams," Fu said from nearby.

"Yup!" Naruto said. "I'm gonna beat everyone here!"

"That's rather arrogant," Lan Fan said.

"Why don't we show that Ling guy who's in charge here?" Dosu asked his teammates, Zaku and Kin.

"You take care of it," Zaku said.

"Fine," Dosu said.

Ling looked at Fu.

"What? Something on your mind, Ling?" Fu asked.

"I'll take the Uchiha," Ling said, making Fu grin.

"You probably don't want to hear this, but I'll take the Uchiha," Fu said.

"What did you say?" Ling asked, turning to face Fu.

"I'd like to test my abilities against the Uchiha," Fu said. "Rumor has it that he's pretty powerful."

"You won't get anywhere with those pyrotechnics of yours," Ling said.

"Don't get me wrong, your little marionettes are pretty strong, but they don't compare to my jutsu," Fu said as Dosu rushed at Ling, who swatted him away with his tail without looking.

"Are you trying to make me angry?" Ling asked, pointing his tail at Fu.

"He knocked that guy away without even looking!" Sakura said, amazed.

"Hey Easy! I said you wouldn't want to hear it, didn't I?" Fu asked.

"Do I need to remind you what happens when I get angry, Fu?" Ling asked before noticing Naruto's back. "Never mind. Take the Uchiha. I have more important fish to skewer." As he said that, a large puff of smoke appeared at the other side of the room.

"Alright, knock it off! Do you want me to fail you before the exams even begin?" a man with two scars on his face asked.

"Apologies," Ling said. "First time taking the exams. I'm a little edgy," he said as his tail disappeared beneath his cloak again.

"Alright, listen up! I'm the proctor of the written portion of the exams, Ibiki Morino. My word is law here. If any of you think you don't have what it takes to become chunin, then you may leave now." When no one left, he continued. "Alright, you'll each be given a number. Once you have your number, sit in the corresponding seat."

Naruto was not happy to end up away from Sasuke and Sakura, while Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu were completely separated from each other, but weren't worried.

"Alright, now I'll explain the rules of the written test," Ibiki said. "This test is different from others in that you start with a perfect score of ten. For every incorrect answer, one point will be deducted. Also, the proctors around the room will be keeping a close watch for cheating. You will lose two points for each instance of cheating caught. If you get caught five times, then you fail immediately."

'There is something very wrong with that statement,' Ling thought. 'The rules for cheating are too lenient. In any other instance, being caught cheating once would be grounds for dismissal right there. I need more information.'

"Also, if any member of a team gets a score of zero, then the entire team fails. In addition, the tenth question will not be given until the final 15 minutes of the test. You may now begin."

Ling looked over the questions, getting even more suspicious. 'Leniency in regards to cheating, and there is no way in Hell that a genin lacking a superior intellect like mine could possibly answer these questions correctly. It's like they're forcing us to cheat to pass. I see. They're testing our ability to gather information without getting caught at it.' he thought, smirking. 'Luckily, I have the superior intellect needed to answer these correctly, and Fu and Lan Fan can gain the info through their eye cameras without being caught.' With that, Ling picked up his pencil and set about answering the questions, getting them to Fu and Lan Fan easily.

Others had figured it out as well. Neji and Hinata used their Byakugan eyes to see through people to get answers. Sasuke used his Sharingan to copy the movements of another guy's pencil. Lee and Tenten used mirrors. Sakura, like Ling, used her brain. Ino used her Mind Transfer Jutsu to possess Sakura and get her answers before passing them to Choji and Shikamaru. Kiba used Akamaru. And Shino used his bugs.

By the time the final 15 minute arrived, over half the teams had been eliminated; some going less quietly than others.

"Alright, pencils down!" Ibiki said. "It's time to give the final question. But before that, there is a condition attached to this question. You can choose not to answer it. But if you do, you and your team will automatically fail. However, if you choose to answer the question, and answer incorrectly, you not only fail, but you will be barred from taking the Chunin Exams ever again, and be a genin for the rest of your life," he said, pausing to let it sink in. "So, what will it be? Will any of you quit now and be able to try again next time, or will you take the chance and risk being stuck a genin?"

After a moment, a couple of teams were eliminated. Then Naruto raised his hand, only to slam it down on the desk in front of him. "You're not gonna scare me away! I don't care if I end up being a genin forever! I'll still become Hokage! I'm not gonna run away! And I'm not going back on my word! That's my nindo, my ninja way!" he loudly proclaimed.

Ibiki looked at him, then the rest of the candidates. 'His outburst gave the others some backbone. That kid is an interesting one,' he thought. "Alright then... you all pass. Congratulations."

"What do you mean we pass?" Sakura asked. "What about the tenth question?"

"There is no tenth question, you fool," Ling said. "The tenth question was a ploy to test our conviction. While the other nine questions were a test of our ability to gather information."

"You're right on the money, kid," Ibiki said. "You all get to move on to the next exam." As he said that, a large black object flew through the window and unfurled, revealing a woman and sign that was secured to the ceiling by kunai.

"All right, listen up, you maggots!" the woman snapped. "I'm the proctor of the second exam, Anko Mitarashi! You're in my hands now!" she said as a young girl with black hair dressed in a black kimono and a Mist headband, armed with a katana and tanto, appeared on her shoulder.

"Hi, Ling Ling!" the girl exclaimed.

"Stick to someone else, you little parasite!" Anko snapped at the girl as the child jumped across desks and onto Ling's shoulder.

"What are you doing here, Rin?" Ling asked. "I told you to stay with Lady Mizukage."

"I know! I just wanted to come see you!" Rin said cheerfully, ignoring the stares of the other candidates.

"You're early, Anko, again," Ibiki said, coming from behind the sign.

"Are you getting soft, Ibiki?" Anko asked. "This is more than you usually give me."

"Maybe this batch is more talented," Ibiki said.

"Well when I'm done with them, that number will be cut in half," Anko said, making most of the candidates gulp in fear.

"I can already tell that you're an absolute sadist," Ling said.

"Maybe I am," Anko said with a grin. "Alright, maggots! Follow me!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ooh! Big trees!" Rin said loudly, looking at the forest behind a perimeter fence.

"What is this place?" Fu asked.

"The 44th training ground," Anko said, looking at the genin. "Otherwise known as the Forest of Death," she said with a dark smile. "Alright, your objective is to reach the tower in the middle of the forest within five days with one each of these scrolls," she said, holding up two different scrolls. "The brown scroll is an Earth Scroll. The white one is a Heaven Scroll. Each team will enter the forest with one, and you'll have to take the other scroll from another team; by any means necessary. Which includes killing, so you'll each need to sign one of these release forms." As she said this, she held out a stack of forms. "Sign these and exchange them for a scroll over there," she said, indicating a table behind a curtain.

Ling took a form and quickly signed it, as Fu and Lan Fan did for their forms. After getting their scroll and storing it away, he looked at Rin, who was still on his shoulder.

"What is it, Ling Ling?" Rin asked.

"Rin, stay with the proctor while I'm in the forest," Ling said. "Do not stray far from her."

"Okay, Ling Ling!" Rin said, hopping off his shoulder and running over to Anko.

"What do you want?" Anko asked, eying the smiling child.

"Ling Ling told me to stay with you while he's in the woods!" Rin said, hopping onto Anko's shoulder.

"Great, I have to babysit for the next five days," Anko groaned as Rin looked around.

"You know, the proctor doesn't look so scary with a little girl hanging off her shoulder," Naruto said, making Sakura laugh.

"You're right, she doesn't look so scary," Sakura said before Anko threw a kunai at Naruto, cutting his cheek. "Naruto!" she yelped as Anko appeared behind Naruto, taking hold of his chin.

"You know, hotshots like you have had their blood spilled all over this forest," Anko said in a slight purr before licking away the blood from Naruto's cut; which made him and Sakura shudder in fright and disgust.

"What's wrong, Whiskers?" Rin asked. "You scared?"

Naruto looked at Rin. "What did you call me?"

"Whiskers!" Rin said happily. "That's your new nickname!"

"I don't think he likes that nickname," Sakura said as Naruto was clearly trying not to hurt Rin.

"Why wouldn't he like it, Forehead?" Rin asked, making Sakura want to kill her as well.

At that moment, Anko readied another kunai as a grass genin came up behind her, clutching a kunai in her tongue, which was extending far further than a tongue should.

"I was just returning your kunai," the grass genin said.

"Thank you, grass ninja," Anko said, taking her knife back as the grass ninja retreated.

"Snake Tongue is weird, huh Shirtless?" Rin asked of Anko.

"Shut up, kid," Anko groaned.

Soon enough, all the teams had their scrolls and were each at a gate.

"One last piece of advice," Anko said. "Try not to get killed! The second test begins now!"

With that, the gates were opened and the teams entered the Forest of Death.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ling, slow down! We just started!" Lan Fan said as she, Fu, and Ling jumped through the trees.

"I'd like to find the other teams before they find us," Ling said. "I prefer to ambush, rather than be ambushed."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Let's get to it!" Naruto said as he, Sakura, and Sasuke headed into the forest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It wasn't long before screams could be heard coming from the forest, making Anko laugh. "Looks like we've got the first fatalities."

"You really like hearing people scream, huh Shirtless?" Rin asked.

"Got that right, kid," Anko said. "Your buddy Ling might be one of 'em," she said, trying to scare Rin.

"No way!" Rin said. "Ling Ling is the best! He won't die," she said before her stomach growled. "I'm hungry," she said with a giggle.

"So am I," Anko said. "Let's grab some dumplings and red bean soup." With that, Anko walked off, Rin still hanging from her shoulder.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The grass ninja who had returned Anko's kunai silently stalked Naruto's team, running through some hand signs. "Wind Style: Slicing Whirlwind," she said, sending a powerful gust of wind at them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cliffhanger, aren't I the worst? Hope you like Rin. Anyway, until next time, I bid you all a most respectful farewell.


	3. Mission 3: Closer Bond

An Extra Edge

Welcome back to An Extra Edge. Last time, the teams entered the Forest of Death after completing the written portion. And Anko got her favored "scary bitch" image detracted from by Rin, a little girl who follows Ling around, but will listen to what he says. Anyway, a weird grass ninja has attacked Team 7, let's see how it goes.

**Legal Stuff: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Just my fic and ocs.**

"Wind Style: Slicing Whirlwind," the grass ninja said, launching a powerful gust of wind at Team 7, which Sasuke and Sakura dodged, but Naruto got hit head on with it.

"Naruto!" Sakura called. "Naruto, are you alright?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto vaguely heard Sakura as he stood up. "Oh man that was not fun," he groaned as he looked around before a giant snake constricted him, looking at him. "Oh crap!" he muttered before it ate him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura quickly found Sasuke. "Sasuke, do you see Naruto?"

"Wait!" Sasuke snapped, holding his hand up. "When does a ninja strike?"

"A ninja waits until the time is right. When the enemy lowers his guard and his weapons lay forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the time for a ninja to strike," Sakura said immediately.

Sasuke nodded. "Alright. Let's find Naruto."

"I'm right here," Naruto said from behind them.

"When does a ninja strike?" Sasuke asked.

"A ninja waits until the time is right. When the enemy lowers his guard and his weapons lay forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the time for a ninja to strike," Naruto said, making Sasuke smirk.

"Correct," Sasuke said before attacking Naruto.

"Sasuke what are you doing?" Sakura asked, alarmed. "He answered it correctly, word for word!"

"Exactly," Sasuke said. "The Naruto I know could never commit that to memory in such a short amount of time."

"Yeah, that's true," Sakura said, pulling out a kunai. "Who are you? And where's Naruto?"

"Naruto" licked his lips slowly. "Well, aren't you clever?" he asked in a female voice before dropping his transformation, revealing himself to actually be the grass ninja from earlier. "Tell me, if you knew he'd never memorize the answer, why did you set that question?"

"It was a trap for anyone who might be listening in," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Clever," the grass ninja said, letting off a wave of murderous intent.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Let me out of here!" Naruto yelled as he tried to stab holes in the snake's stomach with a kunai, only to fail, as the stomach walls were more durable than they looked. "Damn it!" he yelled, putting the kunai away and making a hand sign. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled, making shadow clones until the number caused the snake to explode like an overloaded balloon. "I'm not dieing yet! Not until I become Hokage!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke and Sakura had managed to get away from the grass ninja, only to be ambushed by a giant snake.

"Get away!" Sasuke yelled, killing it with a volley of shuriken down its throat.

"Good," the grass ninja said, emerging from the snake's head. "The prey must never let down its guard, not even for a moment, in the presence of its predator."

Sasuke gulped. This woman scared the hell out of him. Trembling, he pulled their scroll from his hip pouch. "Our scroll! This is what you want right?"

"Sasuke no!" Sakura pleaded.

"To escape, the prey sometimes attempts to entice the predator with another prize," the grass ninja said as Sasuke tossed the scroll toward her, only for Naruto to snatch it out of the air as he passed.

"Naruto! What are you doing?" Sasuke asked. "We have to hand over the scroll to survive!" he snapped before Naruto jumped over to him and punched him in the face.

"You're just a damn coward," Naruto said coldly, his eyes becoming red with slitted pupils and the whisker marks on his cheeks becoming more pronounced.

"Congratulations besting the snake, Nine Tails brat," the grass ninja said, making Naruto's eyes widen and causing Sasuke and Sakura to look at Naruto in confusion.

"Nine Tails?" Sakura asked. "Naruto, what does she mean?"

"How do you know about that?" Naruto asked the grass ninja.

"I have my ways," the grass ninja said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anko was enjoying some dumplings and red bean soup while Rin had run off to play. "Nothing quite like these dumplings," she said, throwing the skewer at a tree, where it formed the Leaf's symbol with a bunch of other skewers. "Perfect."

"Hey, Shirtless!" Rin called, running up. "Come look! I found dead people!"

"I'm trying to eat here," Anko said, annoyed at the kid.

"Come on! They don't have faces!" Rin said, making Anko's eyes widen.

"Lead the way!" Anko said, jumping down to her.

"This way!" Rin said, leading Anko to a line of Buddhas, where the bodies were, along with some ANBU.

"We had to check their cards to get positive ids," one of the ANBU said as Rin poked one of the bodies with a stick.

"Stop that! It's disrespectful!" Anko snapped at Rin, who climbed onto her shoulder. "Show me their pictures," Anko said.

"Yes ma'am," the ANBU said, handing Anko three files, the first of which showed the grass ninja from earlier.

"He's here!" Anko gasped. "Report this to Lord Hokage right away! I'm going to find this guy!" she said before heading into the forest, Rin still hanging from her shoulder.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The grass ninja reached up to her face and pulled it off like a mask, revealing a white face with purple markings around the eyes, and yellow eyes with snake like pupils.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, freaked out.

"My name is Orochimaru," the ninja said in a man's voice.

"I've heard of you!" Sakura said, now very scared. "You're an S-class criminal at the top of the most wanted list! And you're one of the Legendary Sannin!"

"Glad to see that my reputation precedes me," Orochimaru said, letting out a chuckle that sent cold chills down the genins' spines. "Now, to do what I came here to do," he said before stretching out his neck and biting Sasuke on his neck, quickly releasing him.

Sasuke screamed as pain shot through his neck and a mark in the shape of three tomoe in a ring appeared near where he had been bitten.

"What the?" Naruto gasped as Orochimaru escaped. "Sasuke, are you okay?" he asked as Sasuke passed out from pain.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anko had been searching for hours, and finally noticed something, landing on a tree branch. "I know you're there!"

"Excellent job finding me, little Anko," Orochimaru said as he emerged from the tree trunk.

"Cut the chit chat!" Anko snapped. "It's only fitting that I'm the one to take you down. Since you taught me everything. Right, sensei?" she asked as she readied some senbon.

"Not quite," Orochimaru said as Anko made to throw the senbon while Rin jumped off her shoulder, though his tongue shot out of his mouth and grabbed Anko's wrist, knocking the senbon from her hand.

Anko raised her free arm. "Striking Shadow Snakes!" she exclaimed, several snakes coming from her sleeve and grabbing Orochimaru. "Get outta there!" Anko yelled as she pulled him from the trunk and slammed him into another before pinning her hand and his to it with a kunai, closing her eyes from the pain before opening them. "Got ya! Now then, let me borrow your left hand," she said, making a hand sign with her hand and his.

"That hand sign!" Orochimaru said.

"Right," Anko said. "It's over. You and I are going to die here."

"I'm afraid you will die alone, Anko," Orochimaru said as he appeared behind Anko and the one Anko pinned was revealed to be a clone.

Anko pulled the kunai from her hand and threw it at Orochimaru, who caught it and dropped it into the tree branch as he made a hand sign. Anko felt a shooting pain in her neck as she fell to her knees, clutching a spot on her neck.

"Aw, it's the mark, isn't it?" Orochimaru asked as he knelt down in front of Anko. "I put that same curse mark on a young boy just a little while ago. He's a very promising prospect. He may even have more potential than you."

"You haven't changed," Anko sneered. "He'll die before he serves you!"

"Quite possibly," Orochimaru agreed. "I'd say the odds are 1 in 10 against him. But the kid may survive, as you did."

"You monster!" Anko snarled as Orochimaru started rubbing her cheek.

"Aw, jealous? Is that it?" Orochimaru asked. "You can't forgive me, can you? For using you and then tossing you aside." He removed his hand from her cheek and stood, right before one of his arms was severed. "What?" he gasped as the other one was severed.

"Leave Snake Lady alone!" Rin said, brandishing her katana and tanto.

'My nickname is Snake Lady now?' Anko thought.

Orochimaru turned to Rin. "This brat cut my arms off?" he asked.

"Yup yup!" Rin said, smiling despite the situation.

Orochimaru turned his head up as a hand shot out of his mouth, which was followed by the rest of his body, the old one being discarded like empty snake skin. "Impressive. Catching me by surprise and infusing your blades with wind chakra to increase their cutting power and range."

Rin jumped at him again, slashing at his neck, though Orochimaru escaped since he was prepared now.

Rin put her blades away and went over to Anko. "Did Snake Man hurt you, Snake Lady?"

Anko shook her head as the pain dulled. "I'm fine," she said as she stood. "We need to get to the tower."

"Okay, Snake Lady!" Rin said, climbing onto Anko's shoulder before Anko took off toward the tower.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto and Sakura had found a tree with space beneath its roots that made good cover for them, and they were tending to Sasuke.

"His fever still hasn't broken," Sakura said, worried about Sasuke.

"What did that guy do to him?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know," Sakura said. "But Naruto, I have a question."

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, looking at her.

"Orochimaru called you Nine Tails brat," Sakura said. "What did he mean?"

Naruto looked at the ground. "I guess there's no point hiding it. I've got the spirit of the Nine Tailed Fox sealed inside me."

"The Nine Tailed Fox?" Sakura asked, gasping. "The one that attacked the village twelve years ago?"

"Yeah. The fourth Hokage couldn't beat it, so he sealed it inside me," Naruto said. "My entire life, I've been mistreated and abused. And I didn't know why. Until that bastard Mezuki tricked me into stealing the first Hokage's Scroll of Sealing. That's how I learned how to make Shadow Clones. He told me about the fox, and now I wonder why I was mistreated. I'm not the fox, but that's all people see when they look at me." As he said that, Sakura wrapped her arms around him in a gentle hug.

"I don't see you as the fox, Naruto," Sakura said.

"You don't?" Naruto asked, shocked that she was hugging him.

"No. When I look at you, I see a sweet knucklehead who just wants to make people happy and protect his friends."

"_Not just any knucklehead! He's our knucklehead!"_ Inner Sakura yelled.

"Really?" Naruto asked, blushing darkly.

"Yes, really, Naruto," Sakura said, letting go of him. "At first I thought you were just an annoying brat who wanted to make my life miserable. But now I see the kind of person you really are, and you're a very dear friend."

"**Friend? Aw man! I'm stuck in the friend zone!"** Naruto thought.

"How sweet," Dosu said, revealing himself along with Zaku and Kin.

"Hey, aren't they the ones from before the exams?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, the one that Ling knocked away without even looking at him," Sakura said, making Dosu scowl under the bandages covering his entire face, save for his left eye.

Ling and his team watched from a hiding spot. "Let's see how they fare," he muttered, wanting some entertainment after he and his team had easily procured an Earth scroll.

Naruto stood in front of Sasuke and Sakura. "I'll handle this, Sakura-chan. You keep an eye on Sasuke."

"Taking all three of us on by yourself?" Zaku asked. "You got guts. I'll give you that."

"I won't let you near my friends," Naruto said, drawing the Kubikiri Hocho and readying it for battle.

"Pretty big sword for such a little kid," Kin said.

"Don't underestimate me," Naruto said, charging at Dosu with a slash that was barely avoided.

"He's fast!" Dosu noted, though Naruto was quickly blasted into a tree by Zaku and knocked out.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, drawing a kunai and standing in front of Sasuke as the sound genin jumped at her, only to be knocked away by a green blur, which landed in front of her.

"Do not worry, Sakura," Lee said, taking a stance. "I will protect you with my life."

"Who the hell are you?" Zaku asked.

"I am the Leaf Village's Handsome Devil, Rock Lee!" Lee said.

"This could prove interesting," Fu muttered. "The guy looks like a close combat specialist."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As soon as he was knocked out, Naruto found himself in a sewer like place in front of a huge cage with a piece of paper with the word seal written on it holding the cage closed.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto asked, only for a set of claws to strike from within the cage, though could not reach Naruto.

"This is my prison, boy," a deep, menacing voice said as it revealed itself to be a giant fox with nine tails.

"Are you, the Nine Tailed Fox" Naruto asked.

"Yes, I am," the Nine Tails said. "We don't have much time, so I'll get straight to the point. Our fates are intertwined. If I am extracted from you, you will die. And if you die, then I die with you. To survive this situation, you will need my power."

"Why do I need your help?" Naruto asked, only for Sakura's scream to echo through the sewer tunnels. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled.

"She needs help, or she will die," the Nine Tails said. "Use my power!" it said, forcing its chakra onto Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura lay on the ground, bloodied and beaten from Zaku's efforts to get her off him, as she had fought after Lee had been defeated, and couldn't fight any longer, until they all felt a tremor of chakra. Looking behind them, they saw that Naruto had risen, red chakra rising around him in circles, his eyes blood red with slitted pupils and brimming with fury, his whisker marks thicker and darker, and his nails extended into claws.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, a bit scared.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said, looking at her. "Who did this to you? Who hurt you?"

"That would be me," Zaku said, laughing as he said it, only to be silenced when he felt murderous intent coming off Naruto in waves.

Ling trembled slightly.

"Ling, what's wrong?" Lan Fan asked.

"I... I've never felt such malevolent chakra," Ling breathed. "It's got me so worked up, I'm actually trembling. That boy, could he be what I think he is?"

Naruto turned toward Zaku and started walking toward him, his very posture and gait promising no pain, only death.

Zaku held up his hands to attack, only for Naruto to disappear from sight. "Where'd he go?" he asked before he was pinned down with his arms held behind him.

"You seem to like these arms," Naruto said, his foot in Zaku's back. "So, what if I rip them off?" he asked before doing just that, ripping Zaku's arms clean off, relishing in Zaku's screams of agony, his usual happy grin being replaced by a dark, sadistic one. "Who's next?" he asked as he tossed Zaku's arms aside and appeared behind Kin, who could only gasp before he started beating her without mercy, finally snapping her neck and throwing her on top of Zaku.

Dosu stared wide eyed, and began trembling when Naruto looked at him with those eyes. That gaze made him want to scream like a little girl, piss his pants, and run crying for his mommy.

As Naruto prepared to attack Dosu, he was grabbed from behind.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Sakura begged, hugging Naruto. "This isn't like you, Naruto! You've gotta stop!"

"He hurt you, Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "He has to pay for that, just like his teammates."

"Naruto, I'll be fine. Just some cuts and bruises," Sakura said. "Please, just stop."

Dosu was still trembling. This guy didn't look like much, but he had just killed Zaku and Kin in cold blood one after another. Dosu was out of the exam because of that, so he pulled his Earth scroll from his hip pouch and laid it on the ground before fleeing.

"Get back here!" Naruto snarled, though Sakura kept hold of him.

"Naruto, please! Just let it go!" Sakura begged.

Sakura's voice had an effect, making Naruto's features go back to normal. When he turned to look at her, his eyes were their normal shade of sapphire blue. "Sorry, Sakura-chan."

"It's alright, Naruto," Sakura said, smiling at the sight of his eyes, which were radiating kindness rather than malice. "It's alright," she muttered, hugging him again, burying her face in the crook of his neck, happy that he was back to normal, though a groan of discomfort broke the moment.

"Sasuke's waking up!" Naruto said.

Sakura let go of Naruto so they could check on him. "Are you alright, Sasuke?"

Sasuke cracked some stiff joints. "Aside from aches and pains and serious burning in my neck, I'm fine."

"There's Lee!" a girl said as she and her teammate landed in the clearing.

"See if he's injured, Tenten," the boy said.

"Sure thing, Neji," Tenten said, looking Lee over as Neji looked around using his Byakugan.

"You can come out, I see you," Neji said to the air, which prompted Ling and his team to show themselves.

"So that's the Byakugan," Ling said. "I've heard tell of its glory."

Sakura stared at Ling, getting Naruto's attention.

"Something wrong, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"That guy Ling," Sakura said. "I feel like I've met him before, but I don't know where."

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Sakura said with a nod as Sasuke went and picked up the Earth scroll.

"If neither of these other teams have tried taking this scroll, then they either already have both, or need a Heaven scroll.

"We have both scrolls, and were on our way to the tower when Ling insisted on watching that fight," Lan Fan said.

"We have both scrolls as well," Neji said.

"LEE WAKE UP! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE NAPPING!" Tenten yelled at Lee while shaking him rapidly, making the others sweatdrop.

"So, if we've all got both scrolls, why not stick together the rest of the way?" Naruto asked as he picked up the Kubikiri Hocho and put it away.

"Good idea," Lee said, shaking his head, the yelling and shaking having worked.

"Indeed, it is a good idea, tactically speaking," Ling said.

"Then it's decided," Sasuke said, putting the Earth scroll away. "We stick together."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After few hours, they reached the tower and headed to separate areas.

"Look at that!" Naruto said, pointing to a mural that held a riddle. "What does that mean?"

"I think we're supposed to open the scrolls now," Sakura said.

Sasuke nodded and pulled out the scrolls, handing one of them to Naruto.

"Let's do it," Naruto said before he and Sasuke opened the scrolls at the same time.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the scrolls started smoking.

"It's a summoning jutsu!" Sasuke said. "Throw the scrolls down!" he said as he and Naruto threw them on the floor, where the summon occurred.

"Congratulations," Iruka said as the smoke cleared to reveal him. "You passed the second exam."

"Alright!" Naruto near yelled. "We did it!" he exclaimed, grabbing Sakura in an impromptu hug, swinging her around a couple of times even.

"We made it!" Sakura said. Before the mission in the Land of Waves, she would have hit him long before his arms got around her, but now she couldn't figure out why she had no problem hugging him back.

"_It's cause we're so in love! Cha!"_ Inner Sakura yelled.

'No we're not!' Sakura snapped back in her thoughts. 'I'm just being nicer to him.'

"_Denial is always the first step,"_ Inner Sakura said confidently. _"Or was I imagining things when you hugged him in the forest?"_

'Shut up!' Sakura snapped in thought, making her other side leave her alone as she and Naruto let go of each other.

"So what now, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Well, there's still about three and a half days before the second exam ends, so you have this remaining time to rest," Iruka said.

"That's good," Sakura said. "We'll need to be at our best for the third exam."

"Yes, you will," Iruka said. "I need to get back to the academy, see you three later." With that, Iruka left in a puff of smoke.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ah, good to be able to get some R&R for the third exam," Fu said, lounging on a couch.

"Yeah, of course Ling is gonna be doing who knows what," Lan Fan said, sharpening her shuriken.

Ling ignored them, staring at the wall. "Sakura," he muttered.

"What was that, Ling?" Fu asked. "Did you just say that pink haired girl's name? Bout time you started looking for a girl." No sooner did the last statement leave his mouth that Ling's stinger tail was at Fu's throat.

"You assume too much, Fu. It could get you killed," Ling said as he retracted his tail.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once the last of the passing teams arrived, the genin were gathered in a large room with stairways to balconies on either side of the entrance, and a large statue of two hands making a hand sign, at the base of which stood the Hokage, the previous two proctors, Anko still having Rin hanging from her shoulder, and all the teams' jonin instructors.

"Congratulations to all of you on reaching the final exam," Sarutobi said before a jonin landed in front of him.

"Please, Lord Hokage, allow me, Hayate Gecko, proctor of the third exam, to speak," Hayate said.

"Of course," Sarutobi said, letting Hayate have the floor.

"Before the final exam begins, because there are so many of you remaining, we will need to have a preliminary round to reduce the number," Hayate said before going into a small coughing fit. Once he got it under control, he continued. "As of this moment, it's every man for himself. So if you want to quit now, your teammates will remain. Do any of you wish to drop out?"

The only one to drop out was Kabuto Yakushi, who found the task of fighting so soon without a break, as he had arrived on the final day, to be too daunting.

"All right, let's begin," Hayate said as a wall panel retracted to reveal a screen. "Match ups will be decided completely at random. Let's see who fights first." With that, the screen started flashing through names until it stopped on two.

Sasuke Uchiha vs Yorai Akado

"Alright, the two that are fighting will remain down here. The rest of you go up to the balconies," Hayate said.

As all but Sasuke and Yorai headed to the balconies, Kakashi stopped next to Sasuke and whispered to him. "If that mark gets out of control, I'll stop the match. Don't use Sharingan or any jutsu."

Sasuke stood across from Yorai with Hayate a bit away from them, noting Kakashi's warning as Hayate spoke up.

"Alright, the rules are simple, anything goes," Hayate said. "The match will continue until one of you gives up, dies, or is unable to continue. In addition, I can step in and stop the match if I deem it necessary."

Sasuke and Yorai nodded.

"Alright, begin!" Hayate said, jumping back to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another chapter done. What connection do Ling and Sakura have? All will be revealed in due time. But not yet. I thank you for your patience.


	4. Mission 4: Prelims and Training

An Extra Edge

Welcome back to An Extra Edge. The preliminaries are about to begin, with Sasuke Uchiha vs Yorai Akado. Who will win? Who will lose? Will I start including omakes at the end of each chapter. Enjoy the chapter.

**Legal Stuff: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Just this fic and my ocs.**

Yorai ran at Sasuke with his hand poised to strike, but instead grabbed Sasuke's head.

Sasuke started feeling his strength leave him the moment Yorai grabbed him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"So you noticed," Yorai said. "I'm draining your chakra."

Sasuke quickly broke Yorai's hold and put some distance between the two. "_Damn it! Without any chakra I can't use my Sharingan or my jutsu!"_ he thought angrily as Yorai pressed the attack, managing to suck out more of Sasuke's chakra. "_Gotta think! What can I do?"_ he thought before having an epiphany.

"It's over!" Yorai exclaimed before Sasuke kicked him into the air and appeared behind him. "What the?"

"Lions Barrage!" Sasuke exclaimed, pulling Yorai toward the floor and striking him three times before axe kicking him in the chest, knocking him hard to the floor.

Hayate ran over and checked on Yorai, finding him unconscious. "The winner is Sasuke Uchiha," he said as he stood.

"Way to go, Sasuke!" Naruto said as Sasuke joined them on the balcony.

Kakashi leaned close to Sasuke. "We need to seal that curse mark. Come with me," he whispered.

Sasuke nodded and left with Kakashi as the next match up was being chosen, soon stopping.

Fu vs Shino Aburame.

"Alright! I get to fight early!" Fu said happily, jumping down to the arena floor, soon joined by Shino.

"You can't win. That much I can assure you," Shino said.

"Don't talk like you've already won," Fu said.

"Don't underestimate me," Shino said.

"Who said I was?" Fu asked. "I never underestimate my opponents. Cause then I wouldn't be able to get a lot of fun out of my opponent."

"Begin!" Hayate said.

Fu ran at Shino and threw a punch, which Shino dodged before knocking him back. "Good. I would have been very disappointed if you'd been easily beaten," he said before jumping into the air and throwing several shuriken, which Shino dodged, before a second volley of shuriken drove him near the first volley. "Now!" Fu said, making a one handed hand sign, causing the shuriken Shino was near to explode with the force of paper bombs, throwing Shino back, but he landed on his feet.

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

"That's Fu's specialty," Lan Fan said from next to Naruto and Sakura.

"His specialty?" Naruto asked.

"Fu is a demolitions expert," Lan Fan said. "He invented a special seal that makes anything it's applied to as explosive as a paper bomb. All of his shuriken are marked with this seal, and can be detonated remotely with a single hand sign. That makes him a very dangerous opponent."

"Pretty impressive jutsu," Sakura said, looking at the fight again.

Fu used his explosive shuriken seemingly at random, until Shino got him between himself and his bugs.

"I told you that you can't win," Shino said.

Fu sighed. "Ling's going to yell at me again for not being prepared. What can I say? Planning every little insignificant detail just isn't my style. I prefer to stay flexible. But this time around, I went out of style and planned something," he said as he made his hand sign and smirked. "Your bugs won't do you any good now, since you're in range," he said, making Shino gasp before an explosion went off behind him, throwing him to the ground, hard.

"What did you do?" Shino asked, unable to move.

"Remember that punch I threw earlier when we started?" Fu asked. "I launched a senbon from the launcher hidden in my sleeve when you dodged, and then all I had to do was maneuver you near it."

"The winner is Fu," Hayate said.

"Awesome! I get to fight again!" Fu said, returning to his team as Shino was carried away by the medics.

"Cool jutsu!" Naruto said once Fu reached them.

"Thank you kindly," Fu said as the screen started selecting the next fighters, soon stopping.

Misumi Tsurugi vs Kankuro

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Kakashi was preparing a seal for Sasuke's curse mark. "Brace yourself, Sasuke. This is gonna hurt, a lot," he said before running through some hand signs and putting his hand over the curse mark. "Curse Sealing!" he said, starting the process.

Sasuke screamed in pain as the marks Kakashi had drawn began moving onto the seal and put themselves in place.

"That seal is dependent on your will, Sasuke," Kakashi said as Sasuke breathed heavily. "If your will falters, the curse mark will be unleashed."

Sasuke nodded before passing out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kankuro and Misumi stood across from each other.

"Begin!" Hayate said.

Kankuro dropped the bandaged item from his back as before blocking a strike from Misumi, who wrapped himself around Kankuro.

"What the hell?" Kankuro asked.

"I can dislocate all my joints and then use my chakra to control my body to bend and stretch in normally impossible ways," Misumi explained. "Now surrender, or I snap your neck."

Kankuro grinned. "I dare you to do it."

"Suit yourself," Misumi said, applying pressure and hearing a loud snapping sound. "Idiot," he muttered before Kankuro's face started cracking. "What the?" he asked before four arms burst from Kankuro's body and wrapped around Misumi and his head turned around, revealing that it was in fact, artificial. "A puppet?"

"Got that right," Kankuro said as he unwrapped himself from the bandages on the floor. "Meet my friend Crow," he said before using Crow to break every bone in Misumi's body below his neck.

"The winner is Kankuro," Hayate said as Kankuro retrieved his puppet and returned to the balcony.

"Isn't two against one kind of unfair?" Naruto asked.

"The puppet is a nonliving tool, akin to a kunai," Ling said.

"Oh," Naruto said simply as the next line up was chosen.

Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka

Sakura gasped and started sweating a little.

"Go get her, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You can do it. I believe in you."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks, Naruto," she said before going down to the arena with Ino.

"So we end up fighting each other, Billboard Brow," Ino said, smirking.

"Yeah. Try to keep up, Ino Pig," Sakura said, returning the smirk.

"Begin!" Hayate said.

Sakura and Ino ran at each other, exchanging blows for a bit before putting distance between each other.

"How did you get this good, Billboard Brow?" Ino asked.

"By working hard, Ino Pig," Sakura said, making Ino frown and pull out a kunai before cutting off her long ponytail and throwing it in front of her.

"Let's end this, Billboard Brow!" Ino snarled before making a familiar hand sign. "Mind Transfer Jutsu!" she said, falling to her knees unconscious as Sakura dodged, only to find herself trapped by Ino's chakra enhanced hair. "Got ya," she said as she revealed that the jutsu had been faked before turning to Sakura and making the hand sign again. "Mind Transfer Jutsu!" she said again, successfully taking control of Sakura's body.

"_What the hell are you doing in here?"_ Inner Sakura yelled at Ino within Sakura's mind.

"What the hell are you?" Ino asked as Sakura appeared.

"This, Ino, is my inner self. Sort of a split personality. She's annoying at times, but she's helpful as well."

"_Get the hell out of our body, Ino Pig!"_ Inner Sakura yelled, punching the hell out of Ino, who quickly released her jutsu.

"Now then, it's time to finish this," Sakura said, charging at Ino into another exchange of blows that lasted nearly an hour before they stood across from each other, panting.

"The next blow decides this," Sakura said.

"Yeah, no doubt about that," Ino said before they charged again and hit each other in the face at the same time.

Sakura managed to struggle to her feet, while Ino had been knocked out.

"The winner is Sakura Haruno," Hayate said.

"Alright! You go, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered, making Sakura smile at him.

"**Such a sweet knucklehead,"** Sakura thought as she returned to the balcony and stood next to him.

"That was quite the fight, Sakura," Ling said.

"Thanks, Ling," Sakura said as Ino had been returned to her teammates, soon waking up.

"Who won?" Ino asked as she stood.

"I won, Ino Pig!" Sakura said loudly.

"Nice work, Billboard Brow," Ino muttered as the fifth match up was chosen.

Temari vs Tenten

"Let's do it," Tenten said, jumping down to the ring, Temari quickly joining her.

"Begin!" Hayate said.

Tenten jumped back and threw several shuriken, which failed to hit Temari, making her gasp.

"What was that?" Temari asked.

Tenten pulled out a scroll and unfurled it, summoning a number of weapons from within and throwing them at Temari, who deflected them. "That can't be!" she said as Temari opened her huge fan a bit, revealing a purple circle.

"Two more chances to win," Temari said.

Tenten opened another scroll and summoned more weapons to throw at Temari, who once again deflected them, revealing another circle on her fan.

"Last chance," Temari said.

Tenten set two scrolls on the ground beside her, one on each side. "I was hoping to save this for the finals," she said before making a hand sign, making a large cloud of smoke appear before two smoke dragons rose in a circle that she jumped up into, the smoke clearing to show her now open scrolls, which she unloaded a lot of weapons from, which were once again deflected. "Try this!" she said, using wires to lift the weapons for a second attack, but they were deflected once more before Temari opened her fan all the way, revealing a third circle.

"Now, I win," Temari said before lifting her fan. "Wind Scythe Jutsu!" she said kicking up a whirlwind that kept Tenten in the air and slashed at her, dissipating after about a minute, leaving Tenten to fall onto Temari's fan, on her waist, out cold.

"The winner is Temari," Hayate said as the medics got Tenten off Temari's fan and carried her away, quickly clearing away her weapons as well.

"That was boring," Temari said as she returned to the balcony as the sixth line up was being chosen.

Lan Fan vs Shikamaru Nara

"What a drag," Shikamaru said as he headed to the arena floor, standing across from Lan Fan. "I really hate fighting women."

"You a sexist or something?" Lan Fan asked. "Cause I can't stand sexists."

"No, it just ain't classy for a guy to clobber a girl," Shikamaru said.

"Don't worry then, I'll be the one doing the clobbering," Lan Fan said.

"Begin!" Hayate said.

Shikamaru quickly ran through some hand signs. "Shadow Possession Jutsu!" he said, his shadow extending toward Lan Fan.

"I don't think so!" Lan Fan said, jumping into the air away from the shadow and landing on the statue fingertip. "I'm not too keen on getting caught in that jutsu," she said, pulling out a scroll and opening it, a large shuriken coming out of it in a puff of smoke. "Try this on for size," she said, throwing the shuriken at Shikamaru.

"_Damn!"_ Shikamaru thought as he dodged the shuriken, which embedded itself in the floor much further than her throwing strength should have allowed. _"What the hell?"_ he thought as she unsealed another shuriken and threw it at him, this one managing to nick his cheek. _"That shuriken numbed my cheek. I see. She's using lightning chakra to increase the cutting power of her shuriken through intense vibrations, which numbs the target through electricity as well. This gonna be tough,"_ he thought as he ran through more hand signs. "Ninja Art: Shadow Merge!" he said, merging with the shadows to buy time. _"This jutsu will only last for five minutes at best. I've gotta come up with a strategy by then,"_ he thought as he put his fingers together to form a circle, his thumbs forming the top of the circle as he considered every detail. _"Alright, she seems to attack primarily from a distance with large shuriken. Shuriken that large cause a lot of damage, but given their size, are easy to see coming soon enough to dodge. The big problem is that she carries a large number of them in scrolls, and can imbue them with lightning chakra to greatly increase their cutting power. This is like facing an opponent in Shogi with only a King, a couple of Rooks, and some Pawns, while she's got all of her pieces. Alright, let's see. I've got a smoke bomb, 20 shuriken, a couple of kunai, and a flash bomb. It's risky, but if I do this right, I'll be able to beat her."_ he thought, putting together his plan.

"Where are you, shadow boy?" Lan Fan asked in a mocking tone, spinning her next shuriken as she looked for her mark, seeing him emerge from the shadows. "There you are!" she said, throwing her shuriken at him.

"Here goes," Shikamaru said, throwing down the smoke bomb as he dodged the shuriken.

"Hiding won't save you from me, shadow boy," Lan Fan said as she prepared another shuriken, but gasped slightly as she noticed a shuriken flying at her head and dodged it, though it cut off a strand of her hair. "Using the smoke as cover for your shuriken. Not bad, shadow boy," she said as she dodged another shuriken, sticking to the ceiling with her chakra.

Shikamaru threw three more shuriken at Lan Fan before the smoke cleared, as he expected, she dodged them all, moving closer to the floor as she threw another shuriken at his silhouette in the clearing smoke, which Shikamaru dodged, throwing a kunai and another shuriken, both of which she dodged as she readied another shuriken. _"So far so good,"_ he thought, dodging several more shuriken.

"How long do you plan to dance around?" Lan Fan asked, dodging four more shuriken that got her nearer the statue.

Shikamaru threw his last kunai at her, missing before she threw down a smoke bomb, soon jumping out of it and throwing another shuriken. Shikamaru gritted his teeth as he dodged, throwing eight more shuriken at her, leaving him with two.

"So pathetic," Lan Fan said, pulling out the shuriken on her back.

"_Gotta make this count!"_ Shikamaru thought as he threw one of his last shuriken, missing Lan Fan completely.

"Your aim is slipping," Lan Fan said.

"Who said I was aiming at you?" Shikamaru asked as a bright flash of light went off behind Lan Fan, greatly extending their shadows as Shikamaru quickly ran through hand signs. "Shadow Possession Jutsu!" he said, extending his shadow and connecting it with Lan Fan's, making her gasp as the light faded. "Shadow Possession complete."

"How did you do that?" Lan Fan asked.

"Remember that kunai I threw earlier, the second one?" Shikamaru asked. "It had a flash bomb tied to it. That last shuriken was aimed at the wire holding it to the kunai, and made it go off, allowing me to catch you in my jutsu."

"Not bad, shadow boy," Lan Fan said. "So what now?"

Shikamaru smirked as he forced her to put her shuriken away before pulling his final shuriken out. "Now, checkmate." He smirked as the shuriken flew toward her, embedding itself in her throat. His smirk became a look of surprise as water flowed from the wound instead of blood before Lan Fan turned into water and fell apart. "A water clone!" he gasped as Lan Fan burst from the ground to his right and threw a shuriken at him. The next thing Shikamaru saw was blood flying from the new gash on his chest.

Ino's eyes widened at the sight. "SHIKAMARRRUUUUUUUU!" she screamed as he fell onto his back, completely paralyzed as Lan Fan approached him, leisurely twirling a kunai on her finger as she regarded him with a wide, sadistic grin.

"Yeah. Checkmate for me," she said as she prepared to finish him off, only for Hayate to grab the arm holding the kunai. "What are you doing?"

"It's over. You win," Hayate said, letting go of her as Ino and Choji jumped down to the arena and ran over to Shikamaru as the medics arrived.

"Oh no! He's going into shock! We need to get him to surgery!" one of the medics said as Shikamaru was loaded onto a stretcher and rushed out.

Ino glared at Lan Fan, a look of pure rage on her face as tears appeared on the corners of her eyes. "What did you do? There was more to that shuriken than it looked!"

Lan Fan's grin widened. "You're right. I added my lightning chakra to paralyze him. If the blood loss doesn't kill him, I highly doubt he'll be able to continue his shinobi career."

Ino's eyes widened at Lan Fan's nerve. She was treating Shikamaru's condition like it was something that didn't matter to anyone, and the carefree way she said it drove her over the edge. "YOU BITCH!" she screamed as she threw a kunai at her, which was easily deflected by Lan Fan's thrown kunai.

"Temper temper. Getting angry isn't going to help poor shadow boy," Lan Fan said in that mocking tone as she rejoined her teammates on the balcony as the jonin surrounded Ino.

"It's alright," Ling, Fu, and Lan Fan's jonin instructor, an old woman who looked like she had seen a lot of battle in her time said. "Her anger is quite understandable. We won't hold her attack on Lan Fan against her."

"Are you sure you want to do that, Granny May?" Ling asked as the jonin let Ino go.

"Yes, Ling, I'm sure," May said.

"Thank you for that," Sarutobi said as the floor was cleared for the next fight, which was quickly chosen.

Naruto Uzumaki vs Kiba Inuzuka.

Naruto grinned. "Yeah! It's here! It's here at last!" he said happily, about to jump down to the arena, though Sakura grabbing his wrist stopped him. "What is it, Sakura-chan?"

"The Inuzuka clan are famous fo their use of ninja dogs," Sakura said loud enough only for him to hear. "Be careful about that dog of his."

Naruto nodded. "I will."

Sakura leaned next to him to whisper in his ear. "And please, whatever you do, don't use the Nine Tails' power. I don't like how it makes you act."

Naruto nodded again. "I won't. I promise," he whispered back.

Sakura nodded and let go of his wrist, letting him jump down to the arena, where Kiba and Akamaru were waiting.

"This won't take long. You were always the dead last," Kiba said, Akamaru yipping in agreement.

"That was then, and this is now," Naruto said, drawing the Kubikiri Hocho.

"Let's see how good he is with that sword," Ling said.

"Why do you care?" Sakura asked, looking at Ling.

"The Kubikiri Hocho is the rightful property of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. It has no place in the hands of a leaf shinobi," Ling said.

"Well I saw Zabuza give Naruto that sword in his dieing moments," Sakura said.

"Zabuza Momochi was a rouge ninja. As such, he was not recognized as one of the Seven Swordsmen anymore," Ling said. "Unless the sword has chosen Naruto as its master, I will be trying to take it from him."

"What do you mean the sword might have chosen him?" Sakura asked. "It's just a sword. It's not like it's alive."

"The swords of the Seven Swordsmen are mostly sentient," Ling said, a rattling sound briefly being heard around him. "Have you ever heard of Kisame Hoshigaki?"

"Yeah. He's one of the Seven Swordsmen," Sakura said.

"Was," Ling corrected. "He went rouge several years ago. He wields the blade known as Shark Skin. That blade is sentient, and chooses its own master. And once it has made its choice, none but its chosen master can wield it. Because Shark Skin won't allow anyone other than its master to wield it."

"Wow, amazing," Sakura said.

Kiba gave Naruto a weird look. "I'm surprised you can lift that sword, Naruto."

Naruto grinned. "For some reason, this thing is really easy for me to lift," he said as he turned the sword so that the cutting edge was pointing away from Kiba.

"You're not even holding the thing right," Kiba said.

"I don't want to kill a fellow leaf shinobi," Naruto said.

"How nice of you," Kiba said as Akamaru took his place next to him.

"Begin!" Hayate said.

Naruto rushed at Kiba, who ducked under the sword swing and elbowed Naruto in the gut to knock him away. "Not bad, Kiba," Naruto said, getting to his feet.

"There's plenty more where that came from," Kiba said as he tossed Akamaru a food pill, which the dog ate, causing its fur to turn red and made it more feral. "You ain't seen nothing yet," Kiba said, eating a food pill as well before crouching down and making a hand sign. "Human Mimicry!" he said, transforming Akamaru into a feral looking copy of himself. "And now, Beast Mimicry!" he said, becoming more feral looking and making himself indistinguishable from Akamaru.

"This could be bad," Naruto said, raising his sword.

"You have no idea," Kiba said in a slight snarl before charging along with Akamaru on all fours to move quickly, slashing at Naruto in erratic movements.

Naruto found it difficult to dodge, but his huge sword made blocking easier.

Kiba reached into his hip pouch and pulled out a couple of dark purple balls that he threw to Naruto's feet, revealing them to be smoke bombs.

"_Dammit! I can't see a thing!"_ Naruto thought before he took several hits from the side and back, knocking him out of the smoke, the Kubikiri Hocho flying from his grip as Kiba and Akamaru charged at him.

"Fang Over Fang!" Kiba yelled as he and Akamaru jumped and started spinning so fast that they looked like flying drills.

Naruto barely had time to cover himself with his arms before Kiba and Akamaru hit him at the same time, knocking him into the air, his arms covered in claw wounds.

"Naruto!" Sakura gasped.

"_That son of a bitch hurt our man! Cha!"_ Inner Sakura yelled.

"_He's not our man!"_ Sakura mentally snapped at her inner self.

Naruto groaned in pain as Kiba and Akamaru continued their assault, cutting him up even more before he landed near his sword. Struggling to his feet, he took hold of his sword, though Kiba slammed him into the wall.

"Just give up, Naruto," Kiba said. "You can't beat me. You were always the dead last."

Naruto growled as his whisker marks thickened, his canines grew, his eyes turned red with slitted pupils, and his nails became claws. 

"_**Use my power,"**_ The Nine-Tails growled.

"_No! I won't!"_ Naruto thought as his wounds healed.

"What the hell?" Kiba said.

"_**Why not?"**_ The Nine-Tails asked.

"_You know damn well that I promised Sakura-chan that I wouldn't use your power!"_ Naruto thought as his features went back to normal and he looked Kiba in the eyes. "You have no idea how wrong you are, Kiba." He then kicked Kiba away and made a familiar hand sign. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Eleven clones of the blond poofed into existence, each holding a copy of Naruto's sword. "Let's get 'em!" he said before they charged, six each going after Kiba and Akamaru. "Na Ru To!" three of each group called out as they kicked the dog and his master into the air, using their swords as springboards for the rest of their groups, who kicked Kiba and Akamaru further into the air and throwing their swords at them, which were revealed to be more Shadow Clones in the guise of swords, kicking Kiba and Akamaru further up and launching Naruto and another clone above the two. "Uzumaki Barrage!" he and his clone yelled as they ax kicked Kiba and Akamaru to the floor, knocking them out and undoing Akamaru's transformation.

Hayate checked on Kiba. "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki."

"Alright! I won!" Naruto yelled happily, picking up his sword and putting it away as he returned to the balcony. "Pretty cool, huh Sakura-chan?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, pretty cool."

The next match was selected as Kiba and Akamaru were carried out by the medics.

Neji Hyuga vs Choji Akimichi

"Aw man, that guy is really strong," Choji moaned as he and Neji went down to the arena.

"You won't win," Neji said. "It is your destiny to lose to me."

"Aw shut up, Neji," Choji said.

"Begin!" Hayate said.

Choji jumped back as Neji took the Gentle Fist stance. "Expansion Jutsu!" he yelled, expanding to the size of a huge boulder before pulling his arms, legs, and head in and rolling toward Neji at high speed. "Human Boulder!" he yelled, trying to crush Neji, who dodged his attacks until Choji had to return to normal size.

"Eight Trigrams 64 Palms!" Neji said, running at Choji and starting his strikes. "2 palms! 4 palms! 8 palms! 16 palms! 32 palms! 64 palms!"

Choji was thrown back by the strikes, unable to move.

"The winner is Neji Hyuga," Hayate said, prompting the medics to carry Choji out as Neji returned to the balcony before the next match was chosen.

Hinata Hyuga vs Gaara

Hinata looked at Gaara, a look of fear in her eyes. "I-I withdraw."

"Due to Hinata's withdrawal, the winner is Gaara," Hayate said before the final two combatants, Rock Lee and Ling went to the arena.

"We meet again, Rock Lee," Ling said, his tail emerging from his cloak. "You will not walk away from this the same as when it began," he said, his tail's stinger pointing at Lee.

"We will see about that. Let us give this battle our all!" Lee said, taking a stance.

"Begin!" Hayate said.

Lee ran at Ling. "Leaf Hurricane!" he exclaimed, kicking Ling hard, only for Ling to stop in midair and turn into a large flock of crows. "What is going on?" he asked before the crows became shuriken and flew at him, most lodging themselves in his flesh.

Naruto looked on in confusion. "What's going on? Bushy Brow stopped short with his attack and just froze up."

"Looks like Ling decided to give us a demonstration of his skill with genjutsu," Fu said.

Naruto looked at him. "He's got Bushy Brow in a genjutsu?"

"It makes sense, Naruto," Sakura said. "Those under the influence of genjutsu either freeze up or pass out."

From Lee's perspective, the shuriken disappeared, and the skin on the right side of his face started peeling away, revealing the face of another.

"Lee," a familiar voice said.

"Is that, Neji?" Lee asked.

"You are a fool, Lee," Neji said, the right half of his face showing as Lee's hand started choking him. "You should give up on being a ninja." As he spoke, a bulge appeared in Lee's belly and came out of his jumpsuit, revealing itself to be Tenten's head.

"Lee, I can't believe you'd make a mockery of shinobi by trying to be a skilled one without any jutsu," Tenten said as another bulge appeared from Lee's left shoulder, that of his teacher, Might Guy.

"I expected more from you, Lee, but you're a disappointment," Guys said, shocking Lee to tears.

"I don't get you, Bushy Brow," another voice said, Lee's left hand rising as an eye appeared on its palm and opened, revealing a cold, sapphire blue eye. "You can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. So why bother even trying to be a splendid ninja?" Naruto asked.

Lee was shocked, but figured it out. "It is, just a genjutsu. It is not real."

"Telling yourself it isn't real won't help you," Ling's disembodied voice said. "You cannot escape my genjutsu. Ephemeral in particular is difficult to break for even skilled shinobi. I've read your file. You can't use chakra, which renders you incapable of breaking my genjutsu on your own."

Lee then thought of something.

(flashback)

"Guy-sensei!" Lee said, getting Guy's attention.

"What is it, Lee?" Guy asked.

"Guy-sensei, if I cannot use chakra, then how am I to break free of genjutsu?" Lee asked.

"Well, Lee, you can still create chakra through your taijutsu, but you have to use the Eight Inner Gates," Guy said.

(end flashback)

Lee's eyes narrowed in determination. "The Eight Inner Gates. First Gate: Gate of Opening, release! Second Gate: Gate of Rest!"

Ling looked at him in curiosity as Lee's skin turned red.

"Third Gate: Gate of Life! Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain!" Lee said, feeling the chakra start to flow.

"So he can open the Gates," Ling noted.

"Fifth Gate: Gate of Closing, Open!" Lee said, a green aura emerging from him.

"The amount of chakra emanating from his body is impressive," Ling said as Lee broke the Ephemeral and let out a yell.

"THE EIGHT INNER GATES! SIXTH GATE: GATE OF JOY: OPEN!" Lee yelled as chakra came off his body in waves.

"He broke free?" Lan Fan asked in shock as Lee charged at Ling and kicked him into the air and jumped after him, hitting him with punches so fast his hands caught fire from the friction of the air.

"ASA KUJAKU!" Lee yelled as he continued his barrage, which created a fan shaped aura behind Ling, before finally knocking him to the floor and landing. "I did it! I defeated him, Guy-sensei!" His celebration was cut short as a familiar stinger pierced his stomach and threw him into the wall before retracting. "But, how?" Lee asked, seeing Ling before him, completely unharmed.

"When I noticed who your teacher is, I considered that he might have taught you how to open the Gates, so in case you managed to break Ephemeral, I placed another genjutsu beneath it to trick you into lowering your guard," Ling said. "And now victory is mine, thanks to the poison that is now in your bloodstream," he said, a drop of said poison falling off the stinger before it was retracted.

"Poison?" Lee asked, finding himself having difficulty moving.

"Yes, and it's starting to work," Ling said as Hayate looked Lee over.

"The winner is Ling Osoreida," Hayate said as Ling produced a syringe and injected its contents into Lee as the medics arrived.

"What did you inject him with?" one of the medics asked.

"The antidote," Ling said simply.

Hayate cleared his throat as Lee was taken away by the medics. "Would the winners please come down here?" Once the winners, minus Sasuke, were lined up before him, Sarutobi spoke up.

"Congratulations on making it this far," Sarutobi said. "You will be given a month to prepare for the final matches."

"What? We're not having them now?" Naruto asked.

"It will give us time to arrange for the arrival of the various nobles, along with the Kazekage and Mizukage. In addition, it will give you time to train. Your fighting styles have been showcased today, so using your old tired tricks is a good way to lose," Sarutobi said as Hayate stepped forward.

"This is the line up for the final matches," Hayate said as a display came up.

Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga

Sasuke Uchiha vs Gaara

Fu vs Kankuro

Lan Fan vs Temari

Sakura Haruno vs Ling Osoreida

Naruto and Sakura gasped slightly at who Sakura would face.

"**Sakura-chan..."** Naruto thought, fearing what might happen to Sakura

Sakura's face set into a determined expression. **"I have to get stronger. At my current level, Ling would kill me in a heartbeat."**

We will meet again in one month. Dismissed!" Sarutobi said, prompting the genin to leave.

Naruto moved next to Sakura. "Sakura-chan, you okay?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. I know what I have to do."

"Sakura-chan, please be careful. I don't want to see you hurt," Naruto said.

"Naruto, don't worry. I'll be fine," Sakura said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura entered the hospital and went to the front desk.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"I'd like to see Lady Tsunade," Sakura said.

"Of course," the receptionist said, giving Sakura directions to the slug Sannin's office.

Sakura thanked the receptionist and went to Tsunade's office, knocking on the door.

"Enter," the voice within said.

Sakura entered and closed the door behind her, seeing Tsunade, who despite her age, was still looking young with blond hair tied up in a ponytail, amber/brownish eyes, a purple diamond mark on her forehead, and a gray kimono that was loose enough to reveal a generous amount of cleavage with a green coat over it. "Hello, Lady Tsunade."

"How can I help you?" Tsunade asked.

"My name is Sakura Haruno," Sakura said.

"Ah, Hisana's granddaughter," Tsunade said. "You've got a lot to live up to."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. I want to be strong, like Granny Hisana. So I came to ask you to train me for the finals of the exams."

Tsunade smiled. "Sakura, according to Kakashi, you have top notch chakra control, and are very intelligent. With the right training, you will make an excellent medical ninja. I will gladly provide that training."

Sakura returned the smile and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Lady Tsunade. I promise I won't let you down."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was very annoyed at the moment. Kakashi was refusing to train him.

"Naruto, I'll be busy training Sasuke. But don't worry. I found you a teacher much better than me," Kakashi said.

"Really?" Naruto asked. "Who is it?"

"He's right over there," Kakashi said, pointing at the front desk, where an old man with a long white ponytail and a scroll on his back over a red coat and green kimono was flirting with the receptionist.

"Him?" Naruto asked before the man came over.

"Sorry about the distraction," the man said.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked.

The man went into a Kabuki pose. "Who am I, you ask? I'm the one and only Jiraiya! The sexy beast who strikes fear into the hearts of men!"

Naruto sweatdropped. "Is this guy for real, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, he is, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Master Jiraiya is one of the Legendary Sannin."

"Alrighty then, kid, let's get going!" Jiraiya said. "I've only got a month to whip you into shape for the finals!"

Naruto grinned his trademark grin. "Lead the way!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Day 1)

Naruto stared at Jiraiya, discovering quickly that the man was a huge pervert. "Pervy Sage, you're supposed to be training me, not peeking in the bath house."

"Don't call me that, kid. And it's research," Jiraiya said.

Naruto quickly lost his patience. "PERVY SAGE, QUIT PEEKING IN THE BATH HOUSE AND TRAIN ME!" he shouted, causing the girls in the bath house to run away screaming.

"Ah! You ruined my peeking! I mean research!" Jiraiya lamented.

"GET TO TRAINING ME, PERVY SAGE!" Naruto shouted.

"Alright already!" Jiraiya said, leading Naruto to a secluded area. "Alright, Naruto, the first thing you need to do is come to an understanding with the Nine-Tails."

"How do you know about that?" Naruto asked.

"I helped design its seal," Jiraiya said. "Now, talk to the Nine-Tails and see if you can't come to an understanding with it.

"Alright," Naruto said, sitting down crossleged and entering his mind, appearing before the Nine-Tails cage. "I think you know why I'm here, furball."

"I will not accept you as my master," the Nine-Tails said.

"I don't want to be your master," Naruto said. "I'd rather be your friend."

"What is a friend?" the Nine-Tails asked.

Naruto sat down in front of the cage. "Someone you trust with your secrets, who helps you with your problems."

"I have never had a friend," the Nine-Tails said.

"Well, I'll be your friend, if you want me to," Naruto said.

"Perhaps in the future, but not yet," the Nine-Tails said. "For now, we are not friends, but we are allies. I will help you by providing my chakra, and allowing you control."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Naruto asked.

"I'm a fox. We always keep our word."

"Alrighty then!" Naruto said before leaving his mind. "Me and the furball have come to an understanding."

"Alright then," Jiraiya said. "Now then, thanks to your huge chakra reserves, you can make upwards of thousands of shadow clones and have a decent amount of chakra in each. But what you might not know, is that everything a shadow clone learns, you and other clones learn when it disperses. In this way, you can learn many things quickly. Which is good for what we'll be doing. I'll be teaching you several things, and you can learn them at the same time with your shadow clones."

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed. "What are you gonna teach me?"

"The summoning jutsu, how to use trench knives in case you get separated from your sword, and the Rasengan," Jiraiya said. "In addition, you'll be working on using the power of the Nine-Tails."

"Cool! What am I gonna be summoning?" Naruto asked.

"Toads," Jiraiya said, biting his thumb to draw blood and running through some hand signs and slamming his hand on the ground, a summoning array spreading from his palm. "Summoning Jutsu!" after the resulting smoke puff cleared, there was a man sized toad under Jiraiya, which unrolled a large scroll from its tongue and placed it in front of Naruto. "That is the Toad Summoning Contract. To be able to summon the toads, you must first sign that contract in your own blood, and then press your finger prints of that same hand in blood beneath your signature."

Naruto nodded and unrolled the scroll, seeing Jiraiya's name, and next to the first empty space was the name Minato Namikaze. "The fourth Hokage signed this?"

"Yes he did. He was my student," Jiraiya said.

"So I'm following in his footsteps by being your student," Naruto said before biting his thumb to draw blood and wrote his name in the first empty space and pressing his finger prints beneath it.

"Now, make some shadow clones and have them work on the Summoning Jutsu," Jiraiya said.

Naruto nodded and made the hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he said, making 20 shadow clones and set them to work on summoning.

"What next, Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked.

"Next, we'll get you started on the Rasengan," Jiraiya said, handing Naruto a water balloon and picking one up himself. "You need to use you chakra to use the water in the balloon to pop it. Like so," he said before making the water move around, the balloon spiking out before popping.

"Alright!" Naruto said, making more shadow clones and setting them to the task.

"Now, make more clones for me to teach the use of trench knives. While you yourself work on the power of the Nine-Tails," Jiraiya said.

Naruto nodded and made a dozen shadow clones for Jiraiya to instruct, and another dozen to practice swordplay before going to another area to work with the Nine-Tails.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura and Tsunade stood in the private training room of the Haruno clan.

"Listen, Sakura," Tsunade began. "For medical ninja, one's combat ability is secondary. Have you any idea why?"

"Yes, ma'am," Sakura said. "Medical ninja are in the squad to offer support. We're there to tend to our comrades in battle. So it's our healing ability that's the most crucial."

"No it's not!" Tsunade snapped. "The most important thing for you to master is evasion."

"Just dodging?" Sakura asked.

"A medical ninja must never be hit by an enemy attack," Tsunade said.

Sakura nodded in understanding. "Who'll heal the squad if the medical ninja dies?"

"Exactly," Tsunade said. "So, we'll start with evasion exercises," she said, picking up a volleyball from the bin next to her. "You job is to dodge the volleyballs I throw at you."

"That's it?" Sakura asked, a little skeptical.

Tsunade smirked and threw the ball at a wall, creating a very large dent in the wall, making Sakura pale. "I won't hold back."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another chapter, complete. Naruto and Sakura begin their training. All credit for the volleyball exercise goes to wilkins75, the author of Return of Namikaze and it's sequel Return of Namikaze 2, along of with Land of Ice. Kudos to you for these excellent works, which are all on my favorites list. The volleyball exercise appears in Return of Namikaze. Won't say where for the sake of those who haven't read it. Anyway, until next time, I bid you all a most respectful farewell.


	5. Mission 5: Memories

An Extra Edge

Welcome back to An Extra Edge. The preliminaries got underway, with the final line up being Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Ling, Fu, Lan Fan, and Neji. Naruto and Sakura were both concerned about the fact that Sakura would face Ling in the finals, and both found themselves under the tutelage of Jiraiya and Tsunade respectively, two of the Legendary Sannin. While Naruto was given to Jiraiya by Kakashi, Sakura sought out Tsunade of her own free will, wanting to level the playing field for her battle with Ling. We now find them at the end of the training period, the finals a day away.

**Legal stuff: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Just my fic and ocs.**

Sakura's fist impacted on the stone wall, causing it to shatter into rubble. She looked over her handiwork with a smile.

"Good work, Sakura," Tsunade said. "You grown strong this past month, and I'm very proud of you."

Sakura bowed. "Thank you for teaching me, Lady Tsunade. Your training helped me with my training in my clan's jutsu as well."

"You're welcome, Sakura," Tsunade said. "Now get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow."

Sakura nodded. "Yes, Lady Tsunade," she said before leaving to shower.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto looked up as his Rasengan practicing clones dispersed and sent their knowledge to him. "Awesome!" he yelled as he dispelled his chakra cloak and held out his hand, forming a Rasengan in it.

"Nice work, Naruto. You've come far," Jiraiya said.

"All thanks to you, Pervy Sage," Naruto said, allowing the Rasengan to disperse.

Jiraiya frowned, during the whole month, he failed to get Naruto to stop calling him 'Pervy Sage'. "Anyway, you should head home and get some rest. You'll need your strength tomorrow."

"Sure thing, Pervy Sage!" Naruto said before dispelling his clones and leaving before Jiraiya could protest the nickname.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto walked through the streets, where people were having a festival on the eve of the fights, when his stomach growled. Normally, he'd have gone to Ichiraku, but noticed that he was nearer to the Haruno compound. **"Sakura-chan's clan has always been nice to me. Especially her mom and granny."** He had never understood why he could always expect a warm welcome from them, but given how everyone else treated him, he wasn't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. With that in mind, he entered the compound and headed for Sakura's house, which was the biggest in the place, given her status as the heiress. He made sure to return the greetings of her clansmen along the way before arriving at Sakura's home and knocking.

"Coming!" a woman's voice called, the door being opened shortly after, revealing the face of Tokine Haruno, Sakura's mother. "Naruto! How are you? It's so good to see you!" she said happily, pulling the blond into a brief hug. "So what brings you here?" Her answer came in the form of Naruto's stomach growling. "Well what are you waiting for? Come on in, dinner's almost ready."

"Thanks, Tokine," Naruto said as she let him in. The Harunos had all insisted that he be on first name terms with all of them.

"You're welcome, Naruto. I'll tell Sakura you're here," Tokine said before heading down the hall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura sighed contently as she dried off from her bath, which was very relaxing after her long day of training.

"Sakura, our favorite dinner guest is here," Tokine called.

"Okay, I'll be out soon!" Sakura called back, finishing drying off and putting some casual clothes on before brushing her hair. Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she walked out of the bathroom and went to the living room, finding Naruto on the couch chatting with her uncle Masamori. "Hi, Naruto," she said, smiling happily. In truth, like the rest of her clan, she thought very highly of him. She only treated him the way she did at the academy as a facade to keep her friends, who she was worried would reject her, but after the mission to the Land of Waves, she decided to stop putting up that facade, much to the delight of her clan.

Naruto looked up at her greeting and returned the smile. "Hi, Sakura-chan! Hope you don't mind me dropping in like this."

"It's fine. You know you're always welcome here," Sakura said, sitting down next to him.

Masamori gave her a sly grin. "Getting kinda close to the boy, aren't you, Sakura?"

Sakura and Naruto both blushed. "Uncle, we're just friends!" Sakura said quickly.

"Come on, you two are so close," Masamori said. "Remember the day you met?"

(flashback)

Four year old Sakura sat on a park bench crying her eyes out. She had just escaped from a group of bullies who had made fun of her forehead, not noticing someone approach her.

"What's wrong?" the person asked, getting her attention and making her look up, seeing the concerned face of a boy her age. He had spiky blond hair, sapphire blue eyes, and three whisker marks on each cheek. Her first thought was that he was cute, but quickly thought back to the bullies' words, that she would never have friends because of her forehead. "Nothing," she finally said, drying her tears.

The boy didn't buy it and sat next her. "Didn't look like nothing. Please, tell me what's wrong."

Sakura looked at her lap. "Ami and her friends were picking on me because of my forehead. It's too big."

The boy reached over and lifted her bangs to look at her forehead, making her blush. "Yeah, it's big, but I think that makes it cute."

Sakura blushed darker. "You really think so?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah. It's really cute," he said as he pulled his hand away. "I'm Naruto, by the way. Naruto Uzumaki. What's your name?"

"Sakura," Sakura said, giving him a small smile. "Sakura Haruno."

"Nice to meet you, Sakura," Naruto said, grinning widely.

Sakura smiled back, as though the smile were infectious. "Do you want to be my friend?"

"I'd love to!" Naruto said, grabbing her hand and leading her toward the playground.

After a couple of hours, an elderly woman came to the playground. "Sakura, time to go home!" she called.

Sakura pulled Naruto with her. "Come on. I want you to meet Granny Hisana!"

Hisana smiled at the sight of Naruto and Sakura's joined hands. "Who is this boy, Sakura?"

"This is Naruto, my new friend!" Sakura said happily.

Naruto smiled nervously. "Nice to, meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Naruto," Hisana said, kneeling down in front of him. "I'm Sakura's grandmother, Hisana Haruno."

Naruto smiled before his stomach growled.

Hisana chuckled. "Would you like to have dinner with us, Naruto?"

Naruto looked at her in disbelief. No one had ever invited him into their home before. "Yeah! That'd be great!" he said excitedly.

"Let's go then!" Sakura said. "You'll love mommy's cooking!"

(end flashback)

Sakura blushed darkly. _"I must have gotten so obsessed with Sasuke that I completely forgot that day, and to me, the part of my mask to others about thinking Naruto's a talentless idiot was real. I was so stupid to forget,"_ she thought as Tokine stuck her head in the room.

"Dinner's ready," Tokine said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dinner consisted of rice, barbeque, and ramen, much to Naruto's delight.

"So, Naruto, Sakura, I hear you're both gonna have strong opponents tomorrow," Masamori said.

Naruto swallowed the ramen he had been chewing. "Yup! I'm up against Neji Hyuga."

"I think I've got it worse than you, Naruto," Sakura said. "We know how Neji will fight for the most part. All we really know about my opponent is that he's got a stinger tail covered in poison under his cloak, and he's good with genjutsu."

"We know you'll both do great," Masamori said.

"Yeah! After all, becoming a chunin means I'm one step closer to being Hokage!" Naruto said.

"And you'll be a great one," Tokine said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After dinner, Naruto visited for a while before deciding to head home. "Bye, Sakura-chan! See you tomorrow!" he called as he walked away from her, as she had seen him off.

"Can't wait!" Sakura called back before going back inside her house.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto entered his apartment and leaned on the door. "Sakura-chan's gotten even prettier this past month. Bet she's gotten stronger too."

"_**I'm sure she has, kit,"**_ the Nine-Tails said as Naruto fell onto his bed.

"Hope I don't end up having to fight her," Naruto said. "It's not that I'm hoping she'll lose. I just don't want to hurt her."

"_**Sounds like you're in love, kit,"**_ the Nine-Tails said in a somewhat teasing tone.

Naruto blushed. "Am I that obvious?"

"_**Pretty much,"**_ the Nine-Tails said before Naruto drifted off to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As dawn broke, nobles began arriving from out of the village, along with the Kazekage and Mizukage.

Ling, Fu, Lan Fan, and Rin stood at the gate waiting for the Mizukage.

"There she is," Fu said as the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi came into view, flanked by her bodyguards, Chojuro of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki.

"Mommy!" Rin called, jumping off Ling's shoulder and running to Mei, who promptly slapped her. "Mommy," Rin muttered, holding her cheek and starting to tear up.

"Don't you ever do that again!" Mei snapped. "I was worried sick about you!"

"I'm sorry, mommy," Rin sobbed. "I just, wanted to see Ling Ling."

"Lady Mizukage, I take responsibility for Rin's actions. As her caretaker, I should have brought her with me to begin with," Ling said.

Mei knelt down and pulled her crying daughter into a hug. "I'm sorry I had to yell at you, honey. But you really scared me by running off on your own. Don't leave the village without escorts again. Okay?"

"Okay, mommy," Rin said, calming down and returning her mother's hug.

"Honey, I want you to stay with Ling or his teammates while we're here," Mei said.

"Okay, mommy!" Rin said, cheering up and running back to Ling and climbing on his shoulder.

"Congratulations to you three for reaching the final fights," Utakata said.

"Thank you, Utakata-sensei," Ling said as the group turned and headed toward the arena.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On the roof of Kikyo Castle, two figures stood, their bodies hidden beneath cloaks adorned with red clouds, and their faces obscured by straw hats with tassels around their heads.

"So, remind me again why we snuck into the most powerful of the five main hidden villages," one of them said.

"It has come to Leader's attention that Orochimaru plans to invade this village. There are currently four Jinchuriki in this village. Our job is to protect them and ensure their survival. If even one of them perishes, our plans are ruined," the other said.

"So one of our old colleagues is gonna be here," the first one said, reaching into a pouch on his belt and holding it in the pouch. "A canvas truly worthy of my artistry, hm."

"Just don't get carried away, Deidara," the second one said.

"Not a problem, Dante my man," Deidara said. "Although, I don't see why you didn't use those unique jutsu of yours to kill that guy that found us after we got here, hm."

"Hayate was strong," Dante said. "Defeating him with my jutsu would have been easier than facing him in a kenjutsu battle, but had I used my jutsu, it would have only served to reveal my presence here. And I would rather not have to kill any more Leaf shinobi than needed."

"Do you still care for your old home, hm?" Deidara asked.

"No. Not a bit," Dante said. "Let's go. An ANBU patrol will be coming by here soon."

"Lead the way, my man, hm," Deidara said as they left, heading toward the arena.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto ran toward the Haruno compound, wanting to walk with Sakura to the arena, and found her as she was leaving it. "Hi, Sakura-chan!" he called, stopping in front of her.

"Hi, Naruto," Sakura said, smiling as Naruto caught his breath.

"Mind if I walk with you?" Naruto asked.

"Not at all," Sakura said.

Naruto then noticed something he hadn't noticed the night before. "Sakura-chan, what's that mark on your forehead?" he asked, pointing to the purple diamond shaped mark on her forehead.

"Oh that? That's the Reserve Seal. Lady Tsunade taught it to me," Sakura said.

"What does it seal?" Naruto asked.

"You'll see, maybe," Sakura said as they started walking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura looked up at the crowd from the arena, where she stood in a line with the rest of the genin, then noticed someone was missing. "Where's Sasuke?"

"Don't know," Naruto said from his spot next to her.

"Alright, listen up," Genma, who was Hayate's replacement, said. "The rules are the same as last time, there are none. The fight continues until someone dies, forfeits, or is unable to continue. In addition, I can step in and stop the match at my own discretion. Now then, Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga remain down here. The rest of you go up to the observation level."

"Be careful, Naruto," Sakura said quietly.

"Sure thing, Sakura-chan," Naruto said.

Once all the genin but Naruto and Neji were out of the fight area, the two stood across from each other.

"It is your destiny to lose to me, Naruto Uzumaki," Neji said, entering the Gentle Fist stance.

"I don't believe in destiny," Naruto said, drawing the Kubikiribocho.

"You're a failure, Naruto," Neji said. "A failure will always be a failure. The four Hokage, even the fourth, became Hokage because they were destined to be Hokage."

Naruto frowned. "That's enough, shut your damn mouth!" he snapped. "They each became Hokage because they worked hard to earn it! They didn't have it handed to them because of destiny! I may be considered a dead last by most people, but I won't let that stop me! I'll become Hokage, and nothing short of death will stop me."

Neji returned the frown and activated his Byakugan. "It seems we are at an impasse. Let us find out through battle who's philosophy is correct."

"Begin!" Genma said.

Naruto threw a few kunai at Neji, who deflected them with a kunai of his own and jumped back to avoid Naruto's sword slash, using the opening to launch an attack of his own.

"Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms!" Neji said, launching his attack, though Naruto managed to bring his sword up to block most of them, though he got hit by the last four or five strikes, having difficulty holding up his sword, so he sheathed it and pulled out his trench knives.

"It'll take more than that to bring me down," Naruto said, charging at Neji, going into an exchange of blows that eventually ended with him getting the full force of Neji's Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms.

Neji looked at Naruto, who had fallen to the ground. "As I said, a failure will always be a failure."

"Looks like Whiskers loses," Rin said from her perch on Ling's shoulder.

"What's the kid doing here?" Kankuro asked.

"I'm her caretaker," Ling said, watching the fight. "At any rate, Rin is right. It looks like Naruto will lose."

"You're wrong," Sakura said, making them look at her.

"Why do you say that?" Temari asked.

Sakura smiled. "If there's one thing I've learned in the time I've known that baka, it's that you should never bet against Naruto. He has a habit of doing what some people think is impossible."

As though to prove her words, Naruto began getting to his feet, his whisker marks darkening, his nails becoming claws, and when he opened his eyes, they were blood red with slitted pupils, making Sakura gasp.

Neji was shocked, looking at Naruto's chakra network, which had red chakra flowing through it, forcing the closed chakra points open.

"I will never give up, Neji," Naruto growled as he held up his hand, a Rasengan forming in it and ran at Neji.

Sarutobi was shocked. "That's the fourth's jutsu!"

Neji started spinning. "Rotation!" he said, forming a chakra dome around himself.

Naruto kept running. "Take this, Rasengan!" he yelled as he hit the barrier with it. The barrier held up for almost a minute before giving way, the Rasengan hitting Neji in the gut, knocking him into the wall, hard, and knocking him out.

Genma checked on Neji before standing. "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki."

"That's my teammate!" Sakura said happily.

_'He won! He won! Naruto-kun won!'_ Inner Sakura yelled, making Sakura blush a bit at adding kun to Naruto's name.

Naruto put his trench knives away as his features went back to normal and jumped up to the observation level. "I did pretty good, huh Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah, you did great," Sakura said, smiling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tokine and Masamori smiled at Naruto's victory.

"Who'd have thought he learned that jutsu?" Masamori asked.

"Yeah," Tokine agreed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dante and Deidara watched from their hiding spot, their chakra signatures cloaked.

"That looked like a pretty artistic jutsu," Deidara said.

"To think that he would learn that particular jutsu," Dante said.

"What is that jutsu anyway?" Deidara asked.

"One of the last jutsu invented by the fourth Hokage before his untimely demise," Dante said. "It's called the Rasengan."

"I see, hm," Deidara said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Next match, Sasuke Uchiha vs Gaara," Genma said.

"Sasuke isn't here yet, so they'll disqualify him," Sakura said in a worried tone as Raido jumped down to inform Genma of Sarutobi's decision to postpone Sasuke's fight.

Once Raido left, Genma spoke up. "Since Sasuke isn't here yet, we'll move on to the third match, Fu vs Kankuro."

Kankuro quickly spoke up. "Proctor, I withdraw," he said, drawing the jeers of the crowd.

"You damn coward!" Fu said, disappointed that he wouldn't get to fight Kankuro.

"Due to Kankuro's withdrawal, Fu wins by default," Genma said. "So we'll move on to the fourth match, Lan Fan vs Temari."

"Go get her, Lan Fan!" Fu said as Lan Fan and Temari jumped down to the arena.

"You're going down, Temari," Lan Fan said, grinning.

"We'll see about that," Temari said, returning the grin.

"Begin!" Genma said.

Lan Fan jumped onto the wall and unsealed one of her shuriken, throwing it at Temari, who blew it away with her fan. Lan Fan grinned and twitched her fingers, making the shuriken get back on course, still spinning.

"What the! How?" Temari asked, dodging the shuriken, which dug itself into the ground. "My jutsu would cut wires!"

"Who said I was using physical wires?" Lan Fan asked.

Temari's eyes widened in realization. "Chakra threads!" she gasped.

"Got that right," Lan Fan said, unsealing another shuriken. "Chakra threads aren't so easy to cut," she said, throwing the shuriken.

Temari started dodging Lan Fan's shuriken, knowing she couldn't deflect them, either with wind or her fan itself, since the lightning chakra enhanced shuriken would cut right through the fan.

After 20 shuriken total, Lan Fan made a hand sign. "Ketsu!" she said, sending chakra stored in the shuriken out as threads to trap Temari, who was now unable to move. "You have two choices now. Either forfeit, or the next shuriken takes off your head," she said, spinning a new shuriken.

Temari growled. "I withdraw."

"The winner is Lan Fan," Genma said, prompting Lan Fan to release Temari and return to the observation level.

"Next match, Sakura Haruno vs Ling Osoreida," Genma said.

Rin got off Ling's shoulder and moved to Fu's. "Good luck, Ling Ling!" she said cheerfully.

"Thank you, Rin," Ling said, jumping down to the arena.

Sakura was feeling nervous, but calmed down when she felt Naruto's hand on her shoulder, and looked at him.

"Go get him, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, grinning.

Sakura returned the grin. "Yeah," she said before jumping down to face Ling.

"Fifth match, Sakura Haruno vs Ling Osoreida, begin!" Genma said.

Sakura jumped back and threw a volley of kunai, which were deflected by Ling, while two cut through his cloak.

"This might prove interesting," Ling said as his cloak ripped and fell off, revealing a large oni mask on his back with the stinger tail being its tongue, and there were scrolls in its eye holes.

"Ew! What is that thing?" Ino asked from her seat with her team.

"What you see there is not Ling's real body," May said from her seat in front of them.

"Then what is it?" Choji asked.

"That's merely, a puppet," May said.

"Then where is his real body?" Ino asked. "A puppeteer has to be pulling the strings from somewhere!"

"His real body is inside that one," May said.

"Inside?" Asuma asked.

"Puppeteers aren't too good at close combat," May said. "Manipulating puppets during battle leaves them wide open to attack. It was to overcome that weakness and hide his other abilities that Ling created that puppet. It serves as his armor, as well as his weapon. It's the very first puppet he ever crafted, Giriko."

"You seem to know a lot about it," Shikamaru said.

May nodded. "I know everything about that puppet. It's highly skilled in attack and defense, deadly at both. If she is to defeat Ling, she'll first have to destroy Giriko, which will require enormous destructive power."

"Wow," Ino said.

"But to do that, she will first have to avoid every attack that his hidden weapons launch at her. She must dodge every one perfectly. She can't risk even the slightest scratch," May said.

"Because of the poison, right?" Choji asked.

"Yes," May said. "As you've seen, the smallest cut can be fatal," she said, making the genin shudder. "Before she can ever get to him, he will strike at her with all his hidden weapons. To survive, she must understand and instantly anticipate his moves."

"A tall order for a genin," Asuma said.

"True, but I have faith in my student," a new voice said from behind them.

Turning, they saw none other than Lady Tsunade herself.

"So this is Lady Tsunade," May said. "A pleasure to meet the greatest medical ninja to grace the shinobi world with her presence."

"Wait, you called Sakura your student, Lady Tsunade," Asuma said.

"Yup. I've trained Sakura for the past month, she wanted to get stronger, and she has," Tsunade said.

"Well, Sakura may have an easier time destroying Giriko than I thought," May said. "If she has trained under Tsunade, then she probably has gained the same monster strength that Tsunade is famous for."

Ling reached up and pulled his hat off, along with the veil on his face, confirming that the crowd was indeed seeing nothing but a puppet. "Is that all you've got, Sakura?" he asked, opening Giriko's mouth and beginning to shoot a barrage of senbon.

Sakura drew a kunai and started dodging through the storm of senbon, deflecting a few with her kunai.

Naruto watched in amazement at Sakura's evasive skills, as did everyone else who saw her before the finals.

"How did Billboard Brow get so good at dodging?" Ino asked.

"A medical ninja must never be hit by an enemy attack," Tsunade said.

The barrage of senbon eventually stopped, Ling surprised that his attack had been dodged as he closed Giriko's mouth. "She was ready for that one, huh?" he muttered. "In that case," he muttered, raising Giriko's hands and extending small nozzles from the palms. "Let's try this!" he sad, shooting fire at Sakura.

Sakura dodging the flame and ran through hand signs. "Earth Style: Mud Wall!" she said, spitting out chakra enhance mud that hardened into several rock barriers.

"What the?" Naruto gasped. "She learned jutsu like that?"

Sakura took cover behind one of the walls to avoid the flames, which were blasting her cover quite insistently. _"Glad I learned some elemental jutsu,"_ she thought.

(flashback)

Sakura entered her family training room to find her uncle Masamori waiting for her. "Uncle?"

"Hello, Sakura. I thought I'd help with your training," Masamori said, motioning for her to come closer.

Sakura came up next to him. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to teach you some jutsu that will go hand in hand with your medical training," Masamori said. "You can't afford injury, so depending on this little test, I'll teach you an appropriate defensive jutsu."

"What's the test?" Sakura asked.

Masamori smiled and held up a vial of water. "This is called chakra water. It's used to determine elemental affinities. We have a similar means here in the Leaf, but chakra paper only determines your primary affinity. This water tells both your primary and secondary affinities."

"Alright, how does it work?" Sakura asked.

"Give me your hand, Sakura," Masamori said, holding out his free hand.

Sakura held out her hand, which Masamori held palm up, in a cup shape as he pulled the vial's cap off with his teeth and poured some of it into Sakura's hand.

Sakura shivered. If he hadn't been holding her hand steady, she probably would have dumped it to get away from the cold. "It's so cold!"

"Yeah, but you get used to it eventually," Masamori said. "now, channel some chakra into the water, it'll have different affects depending on the nature affinity."

Sakura nodded and channeled her chakra into the water, making it bubble briefly before turning into mud just as briefly, then turning back into water.

"Fire and Earth, great combination," Masamori said. "This is better than I thought, I can teach you a couple of Earth Style jutsu for defense, and a Fire Style for attack."

"Great!" Sakura said happily as Masamori put the water back in the vial and capped it.

(end flashback)

Sakura noticed the fire attack end. Jumping to another barrier, she threw her kunai at Ling as she passed, the fire beginning again just as she reached the cover, the kunai quickly being melted by the intense flames.

"_It'll be tough getting close to him,"_ Sakura thought, deciding that she would have to wait out the attack.

Ling soon ran out of stored fire, the scroll in Giriko's shell's right eye glowing and disappearing. "Alright, let's try this," he muttered as the other scroll briefly glowed and Ling began his attack again, the nozzles shooting water, which cracked the rock Sakura was behind, since it was being cooled rapidly, quickly breaking.

Sakura dodged the rocks as Ling rotated Giriko's arms to narrow the water streams, turning them into narrow blades that cut through her new barrier and had to be dodged.

"There are few things that pressurized water cannot cut through," Ling said, still attacking, until the water ran out, the scroll disappearing. "She dodged it all? Impossible!" he said, retracting the now useless nozzles. "Fu or Lan Fan I could understand, but this girl?"

Sakura saw her chance and drew another kunai, charging at Ling.

"Is this girl mocking me? Attacking me head on?" Ling asked as Sakura threw her kunai, which Ling deflected with his tail and sent to stab her, though she stopped just as the stinger stopped short of impaling her face. "What? Something stopped it! Of course!" he said as Sakura quickly closed the distance and built up chakra in her fist, releasing it as her fist connected with Giriko's shell, shattering it.

"She did it!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

"Hold on," Fu said.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"It's not time to celebrate yet," Fu said as something jumped out of Giriko's remains, away from Sakura, crouching with a cloth covering its head.

"So that's your real body," Sakura said, grinning.

Ling didn't answer as his fingers twitched, causing Giriko's head to shoot into the air and fire a volley of senbon from its neck, which Sakura dodged.

"Well played," Ling said in a much younger voice as he stood. "I should have expected no less from a student of Tsunade. No wonder you could dodge my attacks so easily."

"How do you know I've trained under Lady Tsunade?" Sakura asked.

"I knew from the moment you smashed Giriko with the monster strength that Tsunade is famous for," Ling said.

"And it seems that the old woman went behind my back and gave you pointers on how to make chakra threads, from which you taught yourself the puppetmaster jutsu," Ling said, making Sakura gasp.

(Flashback)

Sakura was practicing her taijutsu when May approached her. "What do you want?"

"I have grown tired of my grandson hiding inside that puppet, so I would like to give you a few pointers on making chakra threads. I'm sure you'll find a way to use them to your advantage," May said.

(end flashback)

"By the way," Ling said. "How clever of you to attach chakra threads to Giriko's tail. But don't get to proud of yourself. It was only a lapse in vigilance that prevented me from noticing until the tail's motion came to an abrupt halt. You did it when you threw that kunai, didn't you? The thread tied to the knife stuck to his tail once it was deflected."

"Not bad," Sakura said. "Even though I used a small amount of chakra to keep the threads undetectable, you still figured it out."

"But of course," Ling said. "Remember who taught me how to play with puppets, it was the same old bag that gave you tips."

"Well play time is over," Sakura said.

"Indeed it is," Ling said, taking hold of the cover on his head and pulling it off, revealing his face for the first time.

Sakura gasped. "Now I know why you seemed so familiar," she snarled, frowning at him.

"Sakura, I'm hurt," Ling said, dropping the cloth to the ground and running a hand through his hair, which was black with a braid in the back. "Is that anyway to treat your own cousin?"

"Shut up, Ling!" Sakura snapped. "I was hoping I'd never see you again."

"Sakura, I'm actually quite happy to see you," Ling said. "It's our first reunion in eight years," he said, opening his eyes, which were a calm dark brown. "Now that you've forced me out of Giriko, let me show you something very special to me," he said as a scroll dropped from his pitch black cloak's sleeve and he grabbed it, holding it up. "I assure you that you will be interested. This piece was a coming of age gift from the witch," he said as he unrolled it, revealing an image of a cherry blossom. "I am very fond of this puppet," he said as he channeled chakra into the scroll, causing a large cloud of smoke, which cleared slowly to reveal the puppet.

Sakura's eyes widened at the sight. "No, it can't be."

Naruto was surprised too. "Is that?"

The smoke completely cleared to reveal a puppet with bright pink hair, in the appearance of a woman.

"That's... That's Granny Hisana!" Sakura gasped as Ling fell into a stance, the puppet floating next to him.

"So this is what happened to her," Sarutobi said.

"What do you mean?" the Kazekage asked.

"It's been over eight years since Hisana disappeared on a mission. We never found her. The strongest of the Haruno clan simply vanished," Sarutobi said, turning to Mei. "Lady Mizukage, it was your people?"

Mei looked at him. "I must thank you for having Yagura assassinated. He was doing more harm than good, but Hisana was captured by May and killed."

"I see," Sarutobi said.

Sakura was absolutely livid, and Ling's smile did not help.

"What's with the puppet?" Naruto asked. "And why is Sakura-chan so mad?"

"That puppet was made from Lady Hisana's body," Lan Fan said. "A puppet that retains the shell of its previous life. It's called a human puppet."

"Ling, you had the nerve to mess with a Haruno for the third time?" Sakura yelled.

"Third time?" Ling asked.

"First my father, then my brother, AND NOW GRANNY HISANA!" Sakura yelled.

"I won't deny killing your brother, but I wasn't involved with the deaths of Lord Sekuno or Lady Hisana. That was all Granny May's doing," Ling said. "Though she did use my poison on both occasions."

"Then it's the same as if you did it with your own hands!" Sakura yelled. "I swear, I am going to kill you, Ling Osoreida!"

"You're welcome to try, but I really must eliminate you in order to move on to the others. Naruto is the one I'm interested in fighting, since I need to reclaim the Kubikiribocho from him.

At that moment, feathers began falling in the stadium, a genjutsu that a number of the shinobi released.

"What's going on?" Ino asked.

"An invasion by the Sand and Sound," May said. "Orochimaru believes that the Mist will aid him, when in fact we are aiding the Leaf, our greatest friend."

The Kazekage looked at Sarutobi. "Shall we begin?"

At that moment, the Kazekage's guards set off a smoke grenade.

The sand siblings looked up. _"The operation has begun,"_ they thought.

Sakura looked up. "What's going on?"

"It begins," Ling said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dante and Deidara dropped the cover on their chakra signatures.

"Let's go," Dante said. "Protect the Three-Tails and One-Tail. The Six-Tails can look after himself. I'll look after the Nine-Tails."

"Not a problem, Dante my man, hm," Deidara said, molding the clay ball that his palm mouth had spit out into a bird before tossing it into the air, where it expanded into a bird large enough to ride on, and jumped on. "Good luck, my man, hm." with that, he flew off to engage the giant boas that had entered the village.

"Who are you?" a Leaf Ninja asked, appearing behind Dante, who turned to him, his face still hidden.

"Begone," Dante said, running through hand signs. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he said, burning the ninja alive before leaving to keep an eye on Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And so the Invasion of the Leaf begins. Hope you don't mind some Akatsuki presence to protect their precious Jinchuriki. I bid you all a most respectful farewell.


	6. Mission 6: Invasion

An Extra Edge

Last time on An Extra Edge, the final fights got underway, with Naruto surprising everyone by defeating Neji, Sasuke being a no show caused his match to be postponed, and Fu was annoyed that he wouldn't get to fight Kankuro, while Lan Fan's shuriken tricks enabled her to rather easily defeat Temari. Naruto was a little worried about Sakura fighting Ling, but that fear was laid to rest when Sakura dodged all of Ling's attacks and smashed his Giriko puppet, which Ling had been wearing as armor, forcing him to reveal his real body, which in turned caused Sakura to realize why he seemed so familiar to her. Just a personal vendetta over her brother dieing at Ling's hand, or clan feud? Either way, let's see how it affects their ability to work together during the invasion by the Sand and Sound.

**Legal stuff: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Just my fics and ocs.**

Sakura looked at Ling. "What's going on?"

"The Sand and Sound are invading," Ling said, sending the Hisana puppet to attack a Sound ninja that came toward them.

The sound ninja was shocked that the puppet was more durable than he thought before getting killed.

"Lady Hisana's puppet form is very helpful, providing access to the Steel Style jutsu of the Haruno clan.

"Remind me to smash that puppet when this is over," Sakura said. "I don't trust you having access to my clan's Kekkei Tota."

"Feel free to try, but for now, let's focus on dealing with this invasion," Ling said as Kankuro jumped down and unwrapped his Crow puppet.

"How did you get a human puppet?" Kankuro asked.

"You honestly thought that Sasori of the Red Sand was the first to crack the secrets of making puppets out of the living?" Ling asked. "My clan has been making human puppets for generations."

"How is it so durable?" Genma asked, standing with his back against Ling's.

"The Steel Style jutsu of the Haruno clan," Ling said. "By manipulating chakra through the puppet, I can make it use Steel Style: Ultimate Shield."

"How can that be?" Genma asked. "Even if it was made from Lady Hisana's body, it's still just a puppet. It's not like it's alive. How can a puppet hold chakra?"

"It can't," Ling said. "This puppet is a human puppet, built from a real body. It's fundamentally different from Giriko and that guy's puppet. It was made from a real person. The puppet retains whatever chakra the body possessed in life. The added benefit being that the puppet is able to use the same jutsu it could when it was alive. It's the great advantage that human puppets have over ordinary ones. But there's more to it than that. This puppet is my favorite out of my entire collection."

"Well, better put it to use then. There are more attackers outside the stadium," Genma said.

"Let's go, Sakura," Ling said.

"Right," Sakura said.

"You're not going anywhere," Kankuro said.

"Try me," Ling said, running through hand signs. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" he said, sending the water dragon at Kankuro, who was swept away into the wall, knocking him out.

"How did you do that?" Genma asked. "Jutsu like that take too much chakra for a genin or chunin to use. Especially one your age."

"I'll keep the secret of my huge chakra reserves to myself for now," Ling said before he and Sakura headed into the village.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarutobi stood as the smoke grenade went off and Raido was hit by several kunai. "What is this?" he asked as the Kazekage appeared behind him and put a kunai to his throat and carried him to the roof.

Mei stood as well and looked at her guards. "Utakata, with me! Chojuro, look after my daughter!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the two said, Chojuro going off to help Rin while Utakata followed Mei to the roof just before the Sound Four started their jutsu.

"Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation!" the Sound Four said, making a purple barrier that one of the ANBU died trying to break through. They then made smaller barriers around themselves to keep the barrier going.

"Why are you doing this, Lord Kazekage?" Mei asked.

"I am not the Kazekage," the Kazekage said, reaching up and pulling his face off, revealing himself to be Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru!" Sarutobi said.

"So you've taken control of the Sand's forces," Mei said, taking a stance as Utakata pulled out his bubble blower.

"Orochimaru, you have made a grave mistake in this endeavor of yours," Utakata said. "You not only face two of the five great Kage, but you also face me, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki."

"I think I can manage," Orochimaru said, jumping away and running through hand signs before clapping his hands together. "Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation!" he said, summoning two coffins which opened to reveal Hashirama Senju and his younger brother Tobirama, the first two Hokages.

"I took precautions before coming here," Orochimaru said before tossing aside the Kazekage robe, Sarutobi doing the same to reveal his battle armor. Mei tossed her hat and robe aside as well, revealing her typical, somewhat revealing outfit.

Orochimaru stuck a kunai with a talisman into the heads of the revived Hokages, restoring their appearances completely and erasing their personalities. "So, shall we begin?"

"Sarutobi, we'll leave Orochimaru to you," Mei said. "I'll take the first Hokage. Utakata, you take the Second."

"Yes ma'am," Utakata said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Deidara followed Chojuro and Rin from his huge clay bird, sending smaller ones to attack anyone who attacked Rin. "Orochimaru has no appreciation for art, hm."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dante followed Naruto as he went after Sasuke and Gaara, cutting down any enemy shinobi that got in his way. _"To be able to kill in cold blood like that, he must have already had his first kill,"_ he thought as he followed and stayed out of sight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tenten was having difficulty against the ninja trying to take her family's weapon shop. Her enemies had cover, and she didn't, so the fight was very one sided. Her thoughts were cut off by a kunai hitting her leg, making her fall and lose her last weapon scroll. "No!" she said as the enemy exposed themselves to come in for the kill.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" a voice said, bringing a mist over the ninja so thick that it was zero visibility. The ninja had little time to ponder the mist as their heads began rolling.

Tenten looked up as the mist disappeared, revealing Fu and Lan Fan. Lan Fan brandished bladed tonfa, while Fu had a scythe. Both his and Lan Fan's weapons had blood dripping from them, the headless bodies of the enemy ninja behind them.

"You okay?" Fu asked.

"I've got a kunai in my leg," Tenten said.

"Lan Fan, take her inside and patch her up," Fu said. "I'll take care of these guys," he said as more ninja appeared.

Lan Fan nodded and got Tenten inside.

Fu grinned and held out his scythe in a crouch, holding a one handed hand sign. "Let's play. Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ling and Sakura ran through the village, taking out enemy shinobi that crossed their path, soon reaching the academy, where Iruka was about to be killed.

Sakura ran up behind Iruka and delivered a chakra enhanced punch to the sand ninja, caving his face in. "Are you alright, Iruka-sensei?" she asked, breathing deeply from the strain of the fighting.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Iruka said as another ninja attacked Sakura, only to be repelled by Ling using Hisana.

"You alright, Sakura?" Ling asked.

"I'm okay," Sakura said.

"Good. Stay sharp," Ling said as a tower of red chakra pierced the air, while a giant creature rose up, surprising him. "The One-Tail Shukaku," he gasped. "And that red chakra, it's the same as what I felt from Naruto in the Forest of Death. Sakura, go to him. I'll handle things here."

Sakura nodded. "Right," she said, running off in the direction of the battling Jinchuriki.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto stood before Gaara in his Two-Tailed Version 2 form.

"_**Naruto, you can't be in this form for very long. It will harm you as well as help you,"**_ the Nine-Tails said.

"Give me the chakra for that attack," Naruto said.

"_**Very well,"**_ the Nine-Tails said, sending bubbles of black and white chakra out of the chakra cloak, which Naruto gathered into a large ball that he compressed into a baseball size before eating it, which made it explode inside him until he fired it as a beam at Gaara, completely destroying his Shukaku replica.

Dante jumped down in front of him as the attack was finished, and slapped a seal tag on Naruto's chest, which started suppressing the Nine-Tails chakra, giving Dante time to look over Gaara, making sure he was alive before returning to Naruto, who had fallen unconscious after the Nine-Tails was suppressed, all his skin burned off. Flipping the boy onto his back, Dante started putting some cold mist onto the burns to sooth them.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled as she saw his condition, and Dante was glad his face was still hidden.

"His life's not in any danger, but all his skin's been burned off. You should get him to the hospital quickly. Also, try to stop him from taking foolish risks. He's a precious resource," Dante said.

"What do you mean he's a precious resource?" Sakura asked, looking over Naruto, but finding Dante gone when she looked up. Ignoring the thought for the moment, she started healing Naruto's burns. _"Naruto, please be alright. I can't stand the thought of losing you. Please, pull through, Naruto-kun,"_ she thought as his burns steadily vanished.

"He said that true strength comes when one fights for one's precious people," Gaara said, conscious, but unable to move.

"He's right," Sakura said, finishing healing Naruto and resting his head on her lap. "He's always fighting to protect his precious people."

"I see," Gaara said.

"How did it happen?" Sakura asked.

"What?" Gaara asked.

"The fight," Sakura clarified.

"Ah," Gaara said, beginning the story.

(flashback)

Gaara was in his partial Shukaku form, sand on his right arm looking like Shukaku's arm, along with half his face, with Shukaku's tail growing from the bottom of his gourd. Standing across from him was Sasuke and Naruto, who had entered his initial Nine-Tails form while brandishing the Kubikiribocho.

"So this is where you were, huh Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, Kakashi and I were assigned to help hold off the invaders," Sasuke said. "Since according to the Mizukage, the signal to begin the invasion would either be something Gaara would do, or that Ling guy summoning a certain puppet of his."

"It was the second one," Naruto said.

Gaara yelled in anticipation. "Enough talk! Mother screams for blood!"

"This guy is crazy," Naruto said.

"You're telling me," Sasuke said.

"Let's take him together," Naruto said.

Sasuke nodded. "Right!" he said, running through hand signs and charging a Chidori. "Let's go!" he exclaimed, jumping at Gaara, who jumped as well, taking a blow on his arm from the Chidori, making him scream in pain as he regenerated the sand arm before taking a Rasengan to the gut from Naruto, which sent him crashing into a tree, breaking it off at the impact point.

Gaara growled as he stood, though that growl quickly became maniacal laughter. "Yes! This is what I want! Fight with all your strength! Prove that you're existence is more valuable than mine! If you can, that is!"

After a grueling fight, Sasuke was knocked out, making Naruto growl as he went into his Two-Tailed Version 1 form, while Gaara went into his giant Shukaku form, while Naruto went into his Two-Tailed version 2 form.

(end flashback)

"I see," Sakura said. "Do you believe him?"

Gaara looked at her. "I believe I do."

Sakura smiled, a gesture that Gaara was unfamiliar with. "Good."

At that moment, Naruto started stirring, seeing Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, Naruto-kun," Sakura said, helping him up. "Let's go. Gaara's not going anywhere. We need to help out in the main fight."

Naruto nodded. "Right!" Once he retrieved his sword, they headed into the village, taking down any foes they came across, until one snuck up and ran Sakura through from behind, not hitting anything vital, but definitely enough to make her bleed to death without help.

Naruto turned to see the sword being removed and Sakura falling to the ground, bleeding profusely. "SAKURA-CHANNNNNNN!" he screamed as something snapped within him, causing him to explode into the Version 2 Nine-Tails form, with three tails.

Hearing Naruto snarl and seeing the transformation, the poor bastard that stabbed Sakura realized he had just signed his own death warrant.

"_**DIE!"**_ Naruto screamed as he tore the man in half with a single swipe of his claws before roaring at the sky. **_"I'LL KILL EVERY SAND AND SOUND NINJA I FIND!"_** he screamed before darting off on his rampage.

Sakura barely held onto consciousness as the seal on her forehead spread in an intricate pattern on her face. "Reserve Seal... release," she said weakly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto tore through the ranks of the enemy without mercy and a roar here and there. At first, the Leaf ninja thought he had snapped and given into the Nine-Tails, until they noticed he was targeting the Sand and Sound ninja exclusively, instead of slaughtering indiscriminately. Seeing the boa that had been summoned, Naruto rushed at it and ran up it's body, quickly ripping off one of its heads with his chakra cloak. He then rushed toward the stadium.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

To say that Mei Terumi was annoyed with her opponent would be an understatement. "Those Wood Style jutsu are tougher than I thought," she muttered, running through hand signs. "Lava Style: Magma Tsunami!" she yelled, spitting out the lava and sending it at Hashirama, who ran through hand signs as well. "Wood Style: Domed Wall Jutsu!" he said, forming a wall of chakra enhanced wood to block the attack, though the lava burned through and hit his arm.

"Got ya!" Mei said, seeing his arm burn off, until it started regenerating. "What the hell? This isn't good."

Once his arm regenerated, Hashirama ran through hand signs. "Wood Style: Deep Forest Creation!" he yelled, forming a huge forest intended to impale the Jinchuriki and two Kages.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Utakata heard the jutsu name and saw the roots. Reacting quickly, he summoned his chakra cloak, going to his Four-Tailed Version 2 form to avoid being impaled, while Sarutobi used his summon to block. _**"Lady Mizukage!"**_ he yelled, fearing for Mei's safety, though he sighed in relief once he saw that she had used Steam Style: Solid Fog to melt the roots that came near her. He was snapped out of his thoughts by another voice. "Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!" Tobirama said, sending the water shark at Utakata, who swatted it away with one of his chakra tails.

"_**This is bad. Our enemies can regenerate. And seem to have limitless chakra and stamina,"**_ Utakata muttered, beginning to feel the strain even with his chakra cloak.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarutobi confronted Orochimaru again once Hashirama's attack was finished.

Orochimaru let out his dark chuckle. "Once I kill you, the Leaf will crumble."

"Even if you were to kill me, this village would not end," Sarutobi said. "The shinobi of the Leaf will not fall so easily!"

"Are you going on about that wretched Will of Fire again, old man?" Orochimaru yelled, striking a strong blow to Sarutobi, knocking him to the ground. Raising his sword, Orochimaru was about to finish Sarutobi when a roar interrupted him, particularly since it came from outside the barrier.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto landed next to the ANBU team, who looked at him in fear. Sensing their fear, Naruto spoke. _**"Don't worry. I can control this power,"**_ he said as the Nine-Tails provided black and white chakra. _**"Get behind me. I'm going to tear down the barrier,"**_ he said as he gathered the chakra into a ball.

Utakata gasped. _**"He can use the Tailed Beast Ball in that form?"**_

Naruto completed the ball and swallowed it, which forced him to be pinned to the ground.

"How will he do anything with that chakra restricting his movements?" one of the ANBU asked before Naruto expanded, making them gasp.

Naruto expanded further three times, steam coming from his mouth before he fired the ball as a beam that impacted on the barrier, tearing right through it and the trees that Hashirama created. With the way clear, Naruto jumped between Sarutobi and Orochimaru, the ANBU close behind. _**"Get away from the old man!"**_ Naruto snarled.

Orochimaru looked at him. "This brat could be a problem. Hashirama, deal with him!"

Hashirama ran at Naruto while running through hand signs. "Hokage Style Elder Jutsu: Tenth Edict on Enlightenment!" he said, slammed his palm onto Naruto's chest and jumping back, a beam of chakra connecting his palm and Naruto's chest as ten poles grew in a circle around Naruto, causing the chakra cloak to recede as the Nine-Tails was suppressed.

Naruto fell unconscious as the jutsu ended, his skin burned off again as Ling and Tsunade arrived.

"Lady Mizukage, are you alright?" Ling asked, wary of Orochimaru.

"I'm fine Ling," Mei said as Tsunade started healing Naruto.

Ling glanced at Naruto. He had seen the chakra cloak. "So my suspicions were true. He is indeed a Jinchuriki."

"Yes, he is," Sarutobi said, creating two shadow clones and running through hand signs.

Tsunade gasped at the sequence of hand signs. "Sarutobi-sensei, you're not resorting to that are you?"

"Yes, Tsunade. I am," Sarutobi said. "Sealing Jutsu: Reaper Death Seal!" he said, summoning the Death God, who wrapped some prayer beads around his left arm, causing marks to appear before he reached into Sarutobi's soul. Sarutobi's shadow clones grabbed the Senju brothers, the Death God reaching through him and grabbing the souls of the previous Hokages, pulling them out.

"Forgive us, Sarutobi," Tobirama said before they were sealed and their bodies crumbled, revealing the bodies of Dosu and the fourth Kazekage.

"So that's what happened to him," Mei said as Sarutobi's shadow clones were dispelled and the real one grabbed Orochimaru and the Death God reached out and grabbed the Snake Sannin's soul, pulling on it, but Sarutobi lacked the strength to pull it out completely, opting for sealing Orochimaru's arms.

Orochimaru screamed in pain as his arms became necrotic. "Damn you, Sarutobi!" he screamed as the Sound Four got him away from the battle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dante jumped onto Deidara's clay bird.

"Something wrong, Dante my man, hm?" Deidara asked.

"Orochimaru is retreating," Dante said. "The Jinchuriki are all alive, our work here is done."

Deidara nodded, having his bird carry them away from the village. "We need to make a little stop before we head to the Waterfall village to capture your target, hm."

"Why is that?" Dante asked.

Deidara closed his hip bags. "I don't have a lot of clay left, hm. I'm gonna need more before we go after the Seven-Tails, hm."

"Fine," Dante said. "After we take care of our business in the Waterfall Village, we'll meet up with Sasori and go our separate ways."

"Not looking forward to that, my man," Deidara said. "You're my only real friend in the Akatsuki, hm."

"The feeling is mutual, friend," Dante said. "I always enjoy shooting the breeze with you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade, Utakata, Mei, Ling, and the ANBU knelt around Sarutobi.

"Sarutobi-sensei, what will we do without you?" Tsunade asked, crying for her master.

Sarutobi smiled. "Live. The Will of Fire still burns. And from its glowing embers, the Leaf will rise again. Tsunade, you are Hokage now." With that, Hiruzen Sarutobi left this world, a smile on his face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And so the invasion concludes, Orochimaru's arms sealed and Sarutobi dead. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time, I bid you all a most respectful farewell. And don't worry, Sakura's not dead... yet. Just kidding. Or am I? No really, just yanking your chains. Or maybe not!

Sakura: -hits Lobo over the head- STOP GOOFING AROUND AND UPDATE!

Lobo: Yes Sakura. -hides behind Naruto-


	7. Mission 7: Akatsuki

An Extra Edge

Last time on An Extra Edge, Ling and Sakura's little feud did nothing to hinder the effectiveness of their working relationship, which allowed them to use teamwork to great effect, until Sakura went to aid Naruto, finding him out cold with all his skin burned off being tended to by Dante, who left quickly. Once the invasion was repelled, at the cost of Sarutobi's life and Orochimaru's arms, Dante and Deidara left to resume their own mysterious agenda, which has something to do with the Jinchuriki. More will be revealed later. For now, enjoy this new chapter.

**Legal stuff: I don't own Naruto or any of its character's, just my fics and ocs.**

It was the day after Sarutobi's funeral, and Tsunade had been inaugurated as the fifth Hokage. The Sand Village had offered to make amends when they discovered that Orochimaru had deceived them. An offer that the Leaf and Mist both accepted. So the three villages were allies once more. At the moment Naruto and Sakura were sitting at Ichiraku enjoying some ramen.

Naruto stopped eating and looked at Sakura. "Hey, Sakura-chan, how did you survive that stab wound?"

Sakura stopped eating as well. "One of the jutsu that Lady Tsunade taught me. It's called Mitotic Regeneration. During the month of training, I ate a food pill everyday and concentrated the chakra behind the Reserve Seal to store it for when I need it. This was so that in addition to being able to replenish my reserves, I could also use it for Mitotic Regeneration, which heals the user through the rapid regeneration of cells. However, the tradeoff is that not only does it use a lot of chakra, but the cells can only divide a certain number of times, and by accelerating that division, I actually shortened my life. As such, Lady Tsunade forbade me from using it unless I would die otherwise."

Naruto gasped, shocked that the girl he loved had saved herself, but as a result would die sooner.

Sakura picked up on his thoughts from his gasp. "Don't worry, my life wasn't shortened by a significant amount. I'll still live to be an old lady if I don't die in battle."

Naruto sighed in relief before Kakashi appeared behind them.

"Naruto, Sakura, you're needed by Lady Hokage," Kakashi said.

Naruto and Sakura nodded, paying for the ramen before heading to the tower. Once they arrived, Naruto knocked on Tsunade's door.

"Enter," Tsunade said.

Naruto was a gentleman for once and held the door for Sakura, who thanked him, making him blush lightly.

Tsunade smiled at them. "I'm sure you're wondering why I summoned you both," she said, getting nods from both of them. "Well, in light of recent events, some of the nobles didn't want to do this, but we need strong shinobi like the two of you."

Naruto and Sakura were surprised.

"Lady Tsunade, are you saying?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade nodded. "Naruto Uzumaki. Sakura Haruno. It is with great pride that I promote both of you to the rank of Chunin.

Sakura smiled happily while Naruto was... well, Naruto.

"I did it! I did it! I became a Chunin!" Naruto happily exclaimed.

Tsunade pulled out two flak jackets. "As Chunin, you have earned the right to wear these vests."

Naruto bounded up and pulled one on, helping Sakura into hers. "I love this vest already!"

Sakura giggled. "That vest and your jumpsuit clash horribly, Naruto-kun."

"Speak for yourself, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, not really noticing that she had added kun to his name.

Sakura blushed. "I'll just have to make a bit of a change in my wardrobe."

Tsunade chuckled at the banter. **"They're acting like a married couple,"** she thought. "You two are dismissed."

Naruto and Sakura stopped their banter and nodded, leaving the office.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi was reading his book when he noticed a huge dust cloud heading his way, finding it to be Naruto and Sakura. "Let me guess, you made Chunin."

"How did you know?" Naruto asked.

"The flak jackets are a dead giveaway, since only Chunin and above are allowed to wear them," Kakashi said simply as Sasuke showed up.

"Hey, Sasuke! Me and Sakura-chan made Chunin!" Naruto said happily.

"Congratulations," Sasuke said, grinning on the outside, but inside, he was furious. **"They were promoted? Why were they, the dead last and the useless fangirl, promoted to Chunin, and I, the last Uchiha, who is superior to them, was not? It doesn't make any sense!"** He thought.

"Don't feel too bad Sasuke!" Naruto said. "There's always next time!" he said, grinning.

"Right," Sasuke said, leaving to train.

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving too then," Kakashi said, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"So, what now, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

Sakura blushed, realizing that she was alone with Naruto. "Well, we could go to my house. I'm sure my clan will want to celebrate our promotions."

"Sure! Let's go!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Apparently Kakashi had dropped by the Haruno compound and informed them of Naruto and Sakura's promotions, since they were waiting for them.

"Congratulations, you two!" Masamori said, clapping both of the new Chunin on the back.

"We all knew you would pass," Tokine said, smiling at them.

"Thanks, you guys," Naruto said, grinning his fox like grin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

While Naruto and Sakura were celebrating their promotions, two men were walking toward the Village Hidden in the Waterfalls.

"So, we're going in while the village leader is away, hm," Deidara said.

"Indeed. After all, my target is his wife. Less trouble for us to take her while he's not around," Dante said.

"We're still dealing with a Jinchuriki, so we'd best be on our guard, hm," Deidara said before they were surrounded by a large group of shinobi. "Rouge ninja I'd say, hm," he said, one of his palm mouths spitting out a clay ball that he shaped into a spider, while his other one, which he had hidden, spit out several clay centipedes.

"Hand over all your money and you won't get hurt," one of the ninja said.

"Begone. Our business is not with you," Dante said, unperturbed.

"Let's teach these guys a lesson!" the ninja said as six of his companions attacked.

Deidara smirked and threw the clay spider at them, making a one handed hand sign. "Katsu!" he said, causing the spider to blow up, hiding him from view for a moment.

The ninja continued their attack, only for the clay centipedes, which had gotten larger, to emerge from the ground and wrap around them.

"You have no appreciation for art," Deidara said, making a hand sign. "Art is an explosion! Katsu!" he exclaimed, blowing the centipedes and the ninja up.

Dante grabbed another two by the throats. "Steam Style: Blood Boil Jutsu!" he said, using his chakra to boil them alive, killing them instantly.

"Enough!" a newcomer said, flanked by three other ninja. "You're strong. What are your names?"

"The name's Deidara," Deidara said.

"And I am Dante Muramasa," Dante said.

"I'm Suien," the newcomer said. "This is Hisame, Murasame, and Kirisame, my strongest subordinates. Tell me, do you have any business in the Waterfall Village?"

"In fact we do, hm," Deidara said. "Our business is with the village's Jinchuriki."

"We have similar business, then. Help me to gain the Hero Water, and in return, I will aid you in whatever business you have with Fu," Suien said.

"That is a sound arrangement," Dante said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Upon reaching the Waterfall Village, Dante looked at Suien. "Leave the Jinchuriki to Deidara and I. Don't get in our way."

Suien nodded. "We'll take the villagers hostage while you're doing that."

"Suien!" a woman said. "You dare return to this village?"

Looking up, Dante saw a woman with minty green hair and orange eyes, a Waterfall headband tied around her right arm. "You're Fu, the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, correct?"

Fu gasped. "How the hell do you, an outsider, know about that?"

Dante and Deidara removed their hats, revealing their faces.

"Because our mission is to capture you, hm," Deidara said, his palm mouth spitting out a clay ball that he shaped into a bird.

"I'd like to see you try!" Fu said, running through hand signs. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" she exclaimed, sending the water dragon at Dante and Deidara.

Dante ran through hand signs quickly. "Ice Style: Dragon vs Tiger!" he said, creating an ice creature from thin air that alternated between being a dragon and being a tiger, and sent it at Fu, the water dragon freezing and breaking apart on contact with Dante's jutsu.

Fu quickly dodged the attack, making a hand sign. "Water Style: Liquid Bullet!' she said, spitting water bullets at Dante, who dodged them easily, jumping to higher ground while Deidara took to the air with his bird, sending several flying at Fu, who picked them off with shuriken, making them blow up.

Dante ran through more hand signs. "Steam Style: Steam Dragon Jutsu!" he said, sending a dragon made from steam at Fu, who barely dodged thanks to Deidara distracting her.

"What the hell?" Fu muttered.

"I possess two Kekkei Genkai," Dante said. "By combining water and wind chakra, I am able to create ice, and by combining fire and water, I can create steam. And I am proficient in the three basic natures that make them."

Eventually, Fu was caught in one of Deidara's non-lethal explosions and knocked out.

Dante picked up the unconscious Jinchuriki and threw her over his shoulder.

"Well our mission is clear, hm," Deidara said.

Dante nodded and went to Suien. "We need a secure location within this village with only one way in or out."

Suien nodded and led them to an area within the giant tree that covered the village.

Dante tossed Fu to the ground and looked at Suien. "Carry on with your business, and leave us."

Suien nodded. "Right," he said, leaving the area.

Dante quickly sealed the entrance with a barrier. At that moment, an image of a man appeared, a silhouette with only the eyes, which were purple with ripple patterns, visible.

"How did it go?" the man asked.

"She put up a fight, but was subdued, Leader," Dante said. "This area has been sealed. Nothing can get in or out. We can perform the extraction without interference."

"Very well," Leader said, running though hand signs, summoning a giant statue, its hands sticking out of the ground in front of it, shackled with a bit in its mouth, nine eyes, which were closed, and seven other silhouettes on all its finger tips but the right thumb, right index finger, and left pinky finger. Leader jumped onto the right thumb, while Deidara and Dante jumped onto the right index finger and left pinky respectively. "Now, let's begin," Leader said, running through hand signs as the others made one hand sign. "Sealing Jutsu: Nine Phantom Dragons!" he said, the bit falling from the statue's mouth as nine dragon like effigies emerged and surrounded Fu, drawing her into the air. A red energy soon began pouring from her eyes and mouth, being absorbed by the statue.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After training for the day was finished, Sakura approached Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, can I talk to you?"

Kakashi looked up from his book. "Of course. What do you want to talk about?"

"I'm worried that someone is after Naruto-kun," Sakura said.

"Why is that?" Kakashi asked, closing his book and putting it away.

"Well, when I found Naruto-kun during the invasion, there was a man tending to his burns. I couldn't see his face, but he had a ring with a purple stone on his left pinky, and he was wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it."

Kakashi gasped at the description of the cloak. "So they've started moving."

"Who's started moving?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura, what I'm about to tell you is currently known only by myself, Master Jiraiya, and Lady Tsunade. You must tell no one else without consent from one of us. Understand?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura nodded. "Of course."

"Alright, you know that Naruto carries the Nine-Tails within him, right?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura nodded.

"Well, the Nine-Tails is one of nine Tailed Beasts, each with a different number of tails. The Nine-Tails is the strongest. Each beast is currently sealed within a human being. Those humans are known as Jinchuriki. The Jinchuriki, according to Master Jiraiya's informants, are being targeted by a mysterious organization. All we know about this group is that there are ten members, and each is an S-Class rouge ninja. The only other thing we know about them, is that they call themselves the Akatsuki."

"You think this guy is one of them?" Sakura asked.

"I'm sure of it, based on your description," Kakashi said. "According to Master Jiraiya, the Akatsuki have a very distinctive wardrobe. They all wear black cloaks emblazoned with red clouds. And the rings may serve some purpose, but we don't know what."

"I'm so worried about Naruto-kun," Sakura said.

Kakashi gave her one of his eye smiles. "Don't worry, we'll protect Naruto."

Sakura smiled as well. "Yeah, we will."

"You should head home and rest. We have a mission tomorrow," Kakashi said, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Sakura turned and headed home to get some food and sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Sakura stood in Tsunade's office with Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi. Also in the room was a man from the Waterfall Village.

"So what's the mission, Grandma Tsunade?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade gestured to the Waterfall shinobi. "This is Lord Shibuki of the Village Hidden in the Waterfalls. Your task is to escort him back to his village. It's a pretty basic C-Rank mission."

Naruto groaned. "I thought I'd be getting more exciting missions now that I'm a Chunin."

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke is still a Genin, so we have to take that into consideration," Sakura said.

"Are you suggesting that I'm weak?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, you're weaker than me," Naruto said.

"Enough!" Tsunade snapped. "This mission is important. It could affect our future relations with Lord Shibuki's village. So take this seriously."

Naruto immediately got serious. "Right!"

"Alright then, get going!" Tsunade said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Shibuki and his escorts were walking, a green object emerged from the ground behind them, opening to reveal a man who had pure yellow eyes, and half his body was white while the other half was black.

"This is not good," the black half said.

"No, it's not," the white half said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Leader, the leader of the Waterfall Village is on his way back, and he has escorts," the man who was trailing Shibuki's group said as the extraction of the Seven-Tails continued.

"We'll need to delay them," Leader said.

"Allow me to take care of them, Leader," the man on the statue's right ring finger said. "If they're from the Leaf, then I'm one of the best choices to delay them."

Leader nodded. "Very well. But I will require 30% of your chakra."

"Understood," the man said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto's eyes widened a bit as he suddenly threw a kunai into a bush, startling Shibuki, who took cover behind Sakura.

"What is it, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"We're being followed," Naruto said.

"Very observant," a man said, showing himself. "For a freshly promoted Chunin to detect my presence is indeed impressive."

Sakura's and Kakashi's eyes widened at the sight of the man's cloak, which was black with red clouds.

Sasuke's eyes widened at the sight of the man's face. "You!" he snarled.

"Sasuke, you know him?" Naruto asked.

"It's been a long time, Sasuke," the man said.

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger. "Itachi... Uchiha!" he snarled.

Shibuki gasped. "That's Itachi Uchiha? The man who slaughtered his entire clan in a single night?"

"Yes! That's him!" Sasuke snarled, his Sharingan flaring. "Itachi Uchiha, it's just as you said brother. I've fostered my hatred for you all this time! I've lived my life for one single purpose!" he snarled as he charged a Chidori. "TO SEE YOU DIE! IT ENDS HERE!"

"Chidori," Itachi muttered, unperturbed.

Sasuke ran at Itachi, the Chidori gouging a trail in the ground. "DIE!" Sasuke screamed, thrusting the Chidori at Itachi, who simply caught Sasuke's wrist to divert the Chidori's blast before knocking Sasuke back with a hard kick.

"You still don't have enough hate," Itachi said as Kakashi uncovered his Sharingan. "You needn't worry. I won't use the Mangekyo Sharingan. Or I suppose, to be more precise, I can't use it right now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked, standing up.

"That's hardly your concern," Itachi said before running through hand signs so fast it was a blur. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" he said, sending fireballs at the group, who dodged them.

"He's not done yet!" Kakashi said.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Itachi said, sending a large fireball at them, again missing.

Sakura ran at Itachi, her fist coated in chakra.

"**If that hits me, I will die,"** Itachi thought, jumping into the air to dodge the chakra enhanced punch.

Shibuki gasped at the sight of Sakura's strength. "Such monster strength!"

Itachi heard a sound behind him and turned, seeing Naruto coming at him, holding a Rasengan.

"Rasengan!" Naruto exclaimed, smashing the chakra ball into Itachi, only for Itachi to disappear in a puff of smoke. "A Shadow Clone!"

Itachi showed himself behind the group. "Well now, you've learned an interesting jutsu, Naruto."

Sakura ran through hand signs. "Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!" she exclaimed, sending a fireball at Itachi, the jutsu surprising her teammates.

Itachi countered the fireball with his own, finding Kakashi gone, a hole in the spot he had been in. He didn't have much time to ponder this before Kakashi burst from the ground, punching at him. Itachi dodged and grabbed Kakashi, forcing him to make eye contact.

Kakashi was unperturbed as they stood there silent for several moments.

"Nicely done. You certainly have mastery over your jutsu," Itachi said. "Your Earth Style move hid you from view for a moment, so I didn't notice the change," he said as Kakashi grabbed his arm to hold him in place. "It all makes sense. Of course my genjutsu has no effect on you, because you are a Shadow Clone," he said as Kakashi climbed out of the first hole.

"Now, Naruto!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"I'm on it!" Naruto said, running at Itachi with a Shadow Clone helping him maintain a huge Rasengan. "Giant Rasengan!" Naruto and his Clone exclaimed, slamming it into Itachi and the clone, dispelling the clone and causing a large explosion and making a crater.

"Whoa, incredible," Sakura said as the dust cleared, showing Naruto, who was standing over the body.

Sasuke charged at Naruto. "You bastard! You took my revenge from me!" he yelled.

"Look again," Naruto said, gesturing to the corpse. "Does that look like Itachi to you?"

Sasuke looked at the body, gasping. Indeed it was no longer the appearance of Itachi, but an unknown man. "What the hell?"

"Was he using a Transformation Jutsu?" Shibuki asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, Lord Shibuki. This jutsu is on a whole other level."

"But who would go to this kind of trouble?" Sakura asked.

"Lord Shibuki, may I speak to you in private?" Kakashi asked as he covered his Sharingan.

"Of course," Shibuki said, following Kakashi away from the group. "What is it?"

"Lord Shibuki, Itachi is a member of an organization known as the Akatsuki. And they're targeting the nine Jinchuriki. Are there any Jinchuriki in your village?" Kakashi asked.

Shibuki nodded, then gasped. "Oh no! They're after Fu!" he said.

"Who is that?" Kakashi asked.

"My wife," Shibuki said. "She's the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki. What if the Akatsuki have taken her, and were trying to stall us?"

"That's a distinct possibility," Kakashi said, returning to the group. "Let's hurry."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura nodded. "Right!" they said before the group took off again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the extraction continued, Itachi's eyes opened.

"The jutsu wore off did it?" Leader asked. "But, we were able to delay them. That should be enough. Well done, Itachi."

"I believe I deserve some credit as well, Leader," Dante said. "After all, the sacrifice for your jutsu was my underling."

"You should be thanking me," Leader said. "It's only because of my Impersonation Jutsu that he could join the ranks of the Akatsuki, short lived as it was."

"Very well," Dante said, falling silent again.

"Zetsu, get rid of the body we used for the Impersonation Jutsu," Leader said.

"Understood," the Venus Flytrap like man said.

"Itachi, what of our enemies number and ability?" Leader asked.

"It's a four man squad from the Leaf. Comprised of Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki: Naruto Uzumaki, and my younger brother Sasuke," Itachi said.

"Kakashi is in the squad?" Dante asked. "This should prove interesting."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the team jumped between trees, Sasuke glared at Naruto and Sakura. **"Even if it wasn't the real one, they were able to defeat that bogus Itachi, but I couldn't! Why couldn't I kill him?"** he thought as Kakashi landed.

"Stop here!" Kakashi said.

"Why? What's wrong?" Shibuki asked as the rest of them landed with him.

"We're taking a break," Kakashi said, looking toward the setting sun.

"Good idea, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said.

"But what about my village?" Shibuki asked.

"We've slowed down since fighting that bogus Itachi," Naruto said, sitting down and breathing heavily. "We need to rest for a while so we can get there at full strength. Especially me, I haven't entirely gotten a handle on that Giant Rasengan."

"And besides, if we take the time to rest, we'll ultimately get there faster," Kakashi said.

"Alright, I understand," Shibuki said.

With that, they started setting up camp for the night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the night wore on, the extraction continued.

From his position on the statue, Dante pondered his past adventures with the Copy Ninja, and how an encounter between them after so many years would turn out.

"Something wrong, Dante?" the man on the left ring finger asked.

"No. Just thinking, Kisame," Dante said.

"What about?" Kisame asked.

"My past," Dante said, saying no more on the subject.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once morning came, Shibuki and his escorts were on their way again.

Naruto spoke up after a while. "Hey Sensei, they haven't done anything to stop us after sending that bogus Itachi at us. What do you think?"

"I think it's safe to assume that they believe they've delayed us enough for whatever they're planning," Kakashi said.

"I agree," Sakura said. "We need to hurry."

"Yeah," Shibuki agreed, while Sasuke just grunted.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The extraction reached a milestone as one of the pupils in the statue's now open eyes began appearing.

"We're entering the final stage," Leader said.

"What should we do about these pests?" Kisame asked.

"They're getting closer, and more quickly than anticipated," Zetsu said.

"Not a problem. We delayed them enough. Ignore them," Leader said.

"Blasted nuisances," Kisame said.

"I never thought finding a Jinchuriki would be so much trouble!" the man on the left index finger said.

"Calm down. We each just need to fulfill our own roles," the man on the left middle finger said.

"Enough talk! Concentrate, all of you!" Leader said. "There can be no mistakes from this point on."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shibuki and his escorts soon reached the outside of the village.

"Alright, I'll lead you in," Shibuki said, leading them toward the hidden entrance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Around the same time, the extraction was completed as the flow of red chakra from Fu stopped and the dragon effigies vanished, the pupil on the statue eye forming completely.

"It is complete," Leader said as Fu dropped to the ground.

"Finally," the man on the left thumb said.

"So in the end it took three full days and nights, hm," Deidara said.

"Well done. Good work, everyone," Leader said.

At that moment, a commotion could be heard outside.

"Well, shouldn't we get this show on the road?" the man on the left index finger asked. "We've got company outside to deal with. And there's still a small mission we need to complete."

"Dante, Deidara," Leader said. "Take care of our new 'friends' outside, but I want the Jinchuriki alive. Everyone else is dismissed."

"Let's go!" the man on the left index finger said impatiently.

"Right," his partner on the left middle finger said before both their images vanished, followed by the man on the left thumb, the woman on the right middle finger, and Zetsu.

"Well I suppose we'll be leaving too," Kisame said.

"Itachi," Dante said. "The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, what's he like in his normal state?"

Itachi was silent for a moment. "I would describe him as the one who bursts in and barks first."

"Doesn't he have any identifying characteristics other than barking?" Deidara asked, Itachi's image vanishing in response. "Guess not."

"Well, until next time then," Kisame said before his image vanished as well.

"The rest is up to you two," Leader said.

"Understood," Dante said.

"Not a problem, hm," Deidara said.

Leader ran through hand signs. "I'll be waiting for your report." With that, his image vanished, and the statue disappeared in a puff of smoke, Dante and Deidara landing on either side of Fu.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto sent one of Suien's grunts flying with a Rasengan while Sasuke burned several others alive with his Fireball Jutsu. Seeing one coming up behind Sakura, Naruto moved and caught the grunt's head in the semicircle on Kubikiribocho's blade and took the man's head off.

Once Suien and his subordinates were dealt with, they started freeing the hostages.

"Is that all of them?" Sasuke asked.

"No," one of the villagers said. "There were two others who took Lady Fu. They both had scratches on the symbols of their headbands, one from the Stone village, and the other from the Leaf. And both wore black cloaks with red clouds."

"Where did they go?" Shibuki asked.

Once the villager pointed them to the area, Shibuki ran toward it and was repelled by the barrier.

Dante made a hand sign. "Release!" he said, deactivating the barrier.

Shibuki and Team 7 ran into the area, finding Deidara sitting on Fu, and Dante standing next to him.

"Finally. Now then, which of you is the Jinchuriki?" Deidara asked.

"Jinchuriki?" Naruto asked. "What the hell is a Jinchuriki?" he demanded.

"Well, so much for that mystery," Deidara said. "The blond is the Jinchuriki. He's the one who bursts in and barks first alright. Itachi was right on the money, hm."

Kakashi's visible eye widened at the sight of Dante. "You!"

"It's been a long time, Kakashi," Dante said.

"Kakashi-sensei, who is that?" Sakura asked.

"Dante Muramasa," Kakashi said. "He's an S-Class rouge ninja from the Leaf. Leave him to me. I trust no one but myself to face him," he said.

Shibuki looked at his wife. "Fu! Wake up! Please, say something!"

"Lord Shibuki," Sakura said. "She's not breathing. I'm sorry, but she's dead."

"Your friend's right," Deidara said. "She's been dead for a while now, hm."

Shibuki gasped, glaring at the two rouges. "Why did you kill her?"

"We didn't kill her by direct means," Dante said. "She died when the Seven-Tails was extracted from her. In the near future, the same thing will happen to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki there, once we extract the fox from him."

Sasuke looked at Naruto. "You have a demon inside you?"

Naruto looked at his feet, silently cursing Dante and Deidara for revealing his secret. "Yeah, I do."

"It's time you came with us, Naruto," Dante said.

Sakura's gaze hardened. "I don't think so!" she said, running at Dante with a chakra covered fist raised.

Dante avoided the punch and kneed Sakura in the gut, knocking the wind out of her and turning her away from him, putting his hand around her throat. "Surrender yourself, Jinchuriki, or she dies."

Naruto's eyes widened and turned blood red with slitted pupils. "You! You bastards! I'll kill the both of you!" he screamed, his chakra cloak forming, his skin peeling off and him being surrounded in a black dome.

Sakura grinned and turned to mud.

"A mud clone," Dante said. "Not bad. I've gotta admit."

The black dome cleared to reveal Naruto in his Version 2 Nine-Tails form, with four tails.

"Deidara, we need to take to the air," Dante said.

Deidara nodded and spit a clay ball from his palm mouth and shaped it into a bird, that he tossed into the air and made a hand sign, enlarging the bird into a size large enough for them to ride. Once they jumped on, the bird took to the air and flew past them.

Naruto followed. **_"Where the hell do you think you're going?"_** he yelled in a distorted voice as he sent a chakra arm at the bird.

Deidara dodged. "That kid is determined, hm."

"Keep away from him," Dante said, sitting cross legged and entering a meditative pose. "I need a few moments to prepare."

"You got it, Dante my man," Deidara said, continuing to dodge Naruto's attacks.

After about a minute, Dante opened his eyes, which were now the amber color of a wolf's eyes. "It would be better If I could still count on the wolves for aid, but I voided my pact with them when I left the village, so I'll have to make due without them," he muttered before jumping off the bird and attacking Naruto, punching him.

Naruto formed another torso from the chakra cloak and slashed at Dante with it, who escaped via substitution, a log getting slashed in half in his stead.

Dante made a hand sign. "Water Clone Jutsu!" he said, forming four Water Clones behind Shibuki, Sasuke, Kakashi, and the real Sakura. "Water Prison Jutsu!" he said, trapping them in Water Prisons using the water from his clones.

Naruto retracted the extra torso into his chakra cloak and forced his chakra arms underground, making them larger once they burst from the ground, making some rubble piles.

Dante stood ready for Naruto's attack. "Let's see what you can do, Nine-Tails."

Naruto growled and hit the rubble to send it flying at Dante, who dodged and deflected the rubble, only to be hit by a large boulder that he quickly shattered, his Sage Mode protecting him. Though he was surprised when Naruto ran at him and punched him in the face, sending him flying back.

Dante quickly recovered and flipped backwards, putting some distance between himself and Naruto. "Impressive. If not for Sage Mode, I'd have been killed. But is that all you've got?"

Naruto growled. **_"Bring it on!"_** he snarled.

"As you wish," Dante said, running through hand signs. "Ice Style: Senbon Blizzard!" he said, forming a large cloud of ice senbon and sending them at Naruto, who was unaffected by the jutsu thanks to his chakra cloak.

Naruto ran at him, almost disappearing from sight, though Dante kept track of him and blocked one of Naruto's strikes, hitting him in return, eliciting a snarl.

Dante held ran through hand signs. "Steam Style: Steam Repulsion!" he said, forming a steam blast that repelled everything around with considerable force, though Naruto withstood it. "What? He withstood Steam Repulsion?" he asked before it was turned back on him, sending him flying into a tree, headfirst. "That would have killed me if not for Sage Mode," he muttered as he got down, rubbing his head.

Black and White chakra emerged from Naruto's chakra cloak, which he began forming into a Tailed Beast Ball.

Dante remembered what it did to Gaara in only the Two-Tailed form. "Sage Mode or no, if that hits me, I'm a dead man," he muttered, running through hand signs. "Ice Style: White Whale Jutsu!" he said, sending a giant norwal made from his chakra made ice at Naruto, hitting him as the Tailed Beast Ball was still forming, making it explode in a huge explosion. Dante used the cover to jump onto Deidara's clay bird. "Let's go. I've collected all the data that I need."

Deidara nodded and had the bird carry them away from the village. "So, what do you think of him, hm?"

Dante panted slightly as he released Sage Mode. "I think... I'm lucky to be alive. Itachi will have his work cut out for him when the time comes to capture the Nine-Tails."

"That's saying something coming from you, hm," Deidara said.

"I'll need to train more, and increase the amount of time I can spend in Sage Mode. If I had fought until it ran out, I'd have been killed. That boy is dangerous. He has a lot of potential," Dante said.

"Leader will certainly be interested in this report, hm," Deidara said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once Dante was far enough away, his Water Clones and Water Prisons fell apart. Naruto returned to the group and got rid of his chakra cloak, falling to the ground in pain, since the cloak had burned off his skin.

Sakura ran to him and started healing him. "Naruto-kun, why did you push yourself so hard?"

"Those guys are coming after me," Naruto said. "I need to get stronger," he said, his skin growing back thanks to Sakura's jutsu.

"Just be quiet and rest. And don't move around too much until the burns are healed," Sakura said.

Naruto nodded slightly. "Sure thing, Sakura-chan."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another chapter, done. Naruto and Sakura become Chunin, causing Sasuke's envy to grow, and the Akatsuki have extracted the first Tailed Beast. Hope you enjoy this action packed chapter. Until next time, I bid you all a most respectful farewell.


	8. Mission 8: Spring

An Extra Edge

Last time on An Extra Edge, Naruto and Sakura were promoted to Chunin, their first mission as Chunin being to escort Shibuki back to his village, only to find that the Akatsuki had come looking for Shibuki's wife, Fu, the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki. By the time they got there, it was too late to save Fu, as the Seven-Tails had already been extracted from her, killing her. Dante engaged Four-Tailed Naruto in a brief battle to collect data before fleeing with Deidara. Now, let's catch up with our heroes. Enjoy this new chapter.

**Legal stuff: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Just my fics and ocs.**

Naruto was sitting on one of the branches of the giant tree that covered the Waterfall Village. Fu's funeral had ended a while ago, and as far as he knew, Shibuki was still grieving.

"Naruto-kun, can I talk to you?" Sakura asked, coming up behind Naruto.

"Sure, Sakura-chan," Naruto said.

Sakura knelt down behind him. "I'm worried, Naruto-kun."

"About what?" Naruto asked.

"I'm worried about you," Sakura said. "Using the Nine-Tails' power hurts you. It burns your skin off and heals it at the same time, accelerating cell division in a manner not unlike Mitotic Regeneration. That power shortens your life, Naruto-kun. And to top it off, the Akatsuki want to extract the Nine-Tails from you, and that'll kill you," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I can't stand the thought of losing you. You're one of my most precious people."

Naruto put his hand on one of her arms. "Don't worry. The Nine-Tails said that the more I train, the more tails I can add to the Version 2 form without getting my skin burned off."

"What about Sasuke?" Sakura asked. "I think he envies us for making Chunin before him, and I wouldn't put it past him to tell all our friends your secret just to spite you."

"That won't be a problem," Kakashi said from an adjacent branch.

Sakura pulled away from Naruto, blushing darkly, as was Naruto. "Why is that, sensei?"

"The fact that Naruto is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is an S-Class secret. The punishment for even whispering about it is severe. The only one allowed to divulge the secret is Naruto himself," Kakashi said.

"But Sasuke has most of the council wrapped around his finger," Sakura said. "I doubt they'll let their precious Uchiha be punished for it."

"That's true," Kakashi said. "You two need to get some sleep. We're setting out early tomorrow to get back to the village."

Naruto and Sakura nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After returning to the village, Sasuke went off on his own to train, while Kakashi went to deliver the report to Tsunade.

"Hey, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as they walked toward Ichiraku.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked.

"If Sasuke tells the others, what if they hate me too?" Naruto asked.

Sakura put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You should have more faith in them."

"Hey, Naruto!" Kiba called as he ran toward them, Akamaru laying on his head.

"Hey, Kiba," Naruto said.

"You two mind coming with me?" Kiba asked, gesturing for them to follow.

"Sure," Naruto said, following Kiba along with Sakura.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kiba led them to a secluded area where the other rookies, minus Sasuke, were waiting, along with Guy's students.

"Hey, guys," Naruto said. "What's going on?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Choji asked.

"Tell you what?" Naruto asked.

"That you're a Jinchuriki," Neji clarified.

Naruto's head hung. "You guys hate me now. Don't you?"

"Why would we?" Shikamaru asked.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, looking up in confusion.

"So you're a Jinchuriki, who cares?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah. You're still the same baka we all know and love," Ino said.

"You should have more faith in your friends, Naruto," Shino said.

"Shino's right," Tenten said. "You should have trusted us."

"The fact that you keep the Nine-Tails at bay is a testament to just how strongly the power of youth flows within you, my eternal rival!" Lee said, giving the nice guy pose.

"We're still your friends, Naruto-kun," Hinata said.

From his vantage point, Sasuke was furious. **"They still like him? Why would they like him when he has a demon inside him? It just doesn't make sense!"** he thought before slipping away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Sasuke entered the Uchiha compound, he was approached by four people. "Who are you?" he asked.

"We are the Sound Four," one of them said, seeming to be the leader, and had a head sticking out the back of his neck. "I am Sakon,"

"I'm Kidomaru," the one with six arms said.

"I'm Jirobo," the one with a mohawk said.

"And I'm Tayuya," the lone woman in the group said.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked.

"We have come on behalf of Lord Orochimaru," Sakon said. "We bear an invitation to come to him for the power you seek."

"Will I be strong enough to kill Itachi?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, you will," Sakon said. "You don't have to answer right now. We'll be back in about a week for your answer."

Sasuke stood there after the Sound Four departed, pondering whether or not to go to Orochimaru.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were standing on the ceiling of a movie theater watching the newest Princess Gale movie, Fu and Lan Fan with them. Naruto was actually being quiet since Sakura had threatened to subject him to her monster strength if he didn't. Once the movie ended, they went to the place they would meet with Kakashi for their mission. Said Copy Ninja being late as usual.

"How do you put up with that guy always being late?" Fu asked, holding and petting one of his spiders.

"You get used to it," Sasuke said. "Why are you two here anyway?"

"Apparently this mission is a joint mission between our two villages," Lan Fan said, sharpening one of her shuriken.

"Then where's Ling?" Sakura asked.

"He's off on a mission with Utakata-sensei," Fu said.

"Man that movie was so awesome!" Naruto said. "Makes me even more determined to keep a certain someone safe."

Fu and Lan Fan looked at each other and grinned.

"Sakura-chan, please go on a date with me!" Fu said, in a very good imitation of Naruto's voice.

"Naruto-kun, you're so much cooler than Sasuke! Of course I'll go out with you and be your girlfriend!" Lan Fan said, imitating Sakura's voice.

Naruto and Sakura blushed so darkly that they invented new shades of red in response to Fu and Lan Fan's teasing.

"Shut up!" Sakura exclaimed before the sound of a horse's galloping reached them, shortly before a white horse jumped over the fence, narrowly missing Fu and Lan Fan. It was who was riding said horse that surprised them.

"No way, was that Princess Gale?" Fu asked as the gate they were next to opened, knocking Naruto and Sakura down as a large group of armor wearing horsemen rode through after the princess.

Naruto and Sakura got to their feet, annoyed at the horsemen and ran after them, followed by Fu, Lan Fan, and Sasuke.

Princess Gale crashed through some stands in the market place as she rode through the streets, the ninja following from the rooftops.

"Finally, some excitement!" Fu exclaimed. "Too bad Ling ain't here! He loves this kind of stuff!"

One of the horsemen headed the princess off and threw a net at her, which was sliced up by Fu, who landed in front of the princess, holding his scythe.

"Hello, boys! Hope you don't mind if I drop in!" Fu said with a grin as the princess went on her way, still pursued. "Let's play," Fu said, engaging the horsemen he had detained.

Eventually, the horsemen got the princess off her horse and pinned her down, their boss coming up behind them. "We finally got her," he said.

"GET OFF ME!" the princess screamed, throwing the horsemen off and going up in a puff of smoke, revealing herself to be Sakura in disguise.

Sasuke knocked out the horsemens' boss, while the horsemen fled and were detained by Lan Fan and Naruto. They then spent the next few minutes restraining the men.

"Oh dear. What are you guys doing?" Kakashi asked before freeing the men. "This is our client."

"Oh," Naruto said.

"Where's Fu?" Lan Fan asked before sighing. "He must have gone after the princess."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The princess sat next to a lake, her horse drinking from it while she stared at the water.

"You okay, princess?" Fu asked, getting her attention. "Man this is so cool! Your movie was excellent! Can I get an autograph for a friend of mine?"

The princess' response was to get on her horse and leave.

"You know, that's not very nice, running off without answering my question," Fu said, running beside the horse, easily keeping up.

The princess smacked her steed's haunch to make it go faster, Fu having a little bit of trouble keeping up now.

"You know, you don't seem like you are on the big screen," Fu said after jumping onto the horse, holding on with his chakra.

The princess made the horse go faster.

"That's not really gonna help since I'm on the horse with you," Fu said as a pole ripped off the princess' sleeve. "Uh, aren't we going a little fast?" he asked as a group of kids came into the road. "Look out!" he exclaimed as the princess stopped the horse, though this caused her and Fu to fall off, Fu landing on his feet. "Come on, Ms. Fujikaze, let's have that autograph."

"That's Yukie Fujikaze?" one of the kids asked excitedly before Yukie ran off.

"Get back here and give me an autograph!" Fu yelled, chasing Yukie.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Our mission is to guard Yukie Fujikaze, the actress best known for her role as Princess Gale," Kakashi said as they sat and/or stood on the movie set.

"Guard?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, maybe not guard her, so much as escort her," Kakashi said.

"The next Princess Gale movie is the first one that we're shooting abroad," the director's assistant said. "And our leading lady is something of a diva."

"So where are the scenes being shot?" Sakura asked.

"In the Land of Snow," the director, Makino said.

"The Land of Snow?" Lan Fan asked, sharpening a shuriken. "Seems a long way to go just for some filming."

"Yukie's manager, Sandayu recommended it," Makino said, gesturing to the man Sasuke had earlier knocked out, who bowed slightly.

"Wonder what Yukie's problem with going to the Land of Snow is," the assistant said. "It was only when she heard we were going there that she ran from the set."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yukie came out of a clothing store in a disguise, pulling a pocket mirror from her pocket and looking behind her through it, seeing Fu waiting for her, leaning on a light pole with a smug grin on his face. Putting the mirror away, she ran into an alley, trying to lose him, only for him to appear in front of her, hanging upside down from a beam, and hold out a pen and autograph card. "Fine," she relented.

Fu grinned and dropped down, handing her the card and pen.

"Who's it for?" Yukie asked.

"Rin Terumi," Fu said.

"Rin Terumi," Yukie repeated as she wrote.

Fu looked her over, noticing a crystal necklace around her neck. "Nice necklace. Don't think I've seen anything like it before."

Yukie reached up to her earring and squeezed it, spraying Fu in the face with something that made his eyes burn.

"OW! What the hell is that?" Fu asked, trying to find the water bottle in his hip pouch to wash his eyes out.

"Pepper Spray, for stalkers," Yukie said as Fu leaned back on a pole and knocked it out, making some rafters and lumber fall on him.

"I'm okay," Fu said.

Yukie then proceeded to rip up the autograph card.

"Aw that's cold," Fu said as Yukie ran off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About an hour later, Yukie was drinking in a bar, liking the silence, until it was shattered by Fu bursting in.

"There you are! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get out of that rubble pile?" Fu asked.

"I don't care," Yukie said.

"Man, on the big screen you're cool, but in reality, you're nothing but a spoiled little bitch!" Fu said. "Won't even give an autograph for my friend, who happens to be a little girl."

"Autographs are a waste of time," Yukie said as more people burst into the bar.

"Ms. Yukie! Our boat to the Land of Snow is about to sail!" Sandayu exclaimed, accompanied by Lan Fan and Team 7.

"I don't care," Yukie said. "Get someone else to fill the role." Before she could refill her sake cup, Fu hit her on the back of her neck to knock her out.

"That is for giving me a face full of pepper spray and leaving me buried in rubble," Fu said as he picked up the unconscious actress. "Well then, let's go."

"You know, I could have just put her under with a genjutsu," Kakashi said as they left the bar.

"I wanted some payback," Fu said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yukie woke up in a warm bed, noting the room to be swaying, and Fu was sitting next to her feet, holding a pen and autograph card.

"So, how about that autograph?" Fu asked.

"No. Now get me some water. I feel like the room is swaying," Yukie said. "Pretty crazy huh?"

"Not really," Fu said. "The room really is swaying. Then again, we're on a ship at sea."

Yukie gasped and ran to the deck. "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" she yelled, seeing a set being put together. Resigning herself to her fate, she allowed herself to be readied for the camera.

"I don't see how babysitting a pampered little actress is much of a mission," Naruto said, eating some instant ramen.

"Not so, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Big celebrities are targeted all the time. And you never know who's after them. As such, this is an A-Rank mission."

Naruto almost spit out his ramen. "Seriously? An A-Rank mission?" he asked through the noodles in his mouth.

"Naruto-kun, don't talk with your mouth full!" Sakura said, hitting him on the head.

Naruto swallowed the noodles and rubbed his head. "Sorry, Sakura-chan."

"Just don't do it again, Naruto-kun," Sakura said.

"Get a room, you lovebirds," Lan Fan said, sharpening her ever present shuriken.

Naruto and Sakura both blushed darkly.

"It's not like that, Lan Fan!" Naruto said.

"We're just good friends!" Sakura added.

"For now," Lan Fan said.

After the day's filming was finished and everyone went to bed, Naruto went up to the crows nest to think, pondering his relationship with Sakura. He knew they were friends, and that he wanted to be more than her friend, but he figured that she didn't want that with him. He was sure she wanted Sasuke. He was broken out of his thoughts by a voice.

"Naruto, I have something for you," Kakashi said, holding out a small yellow package to Naruto. "A gift from Master Jiraiya."

"Wonder what Pervy Sage would give me," Naruto said, taking the package and putting it in his vest pocket.

"He said it's a good luck charm," Kakashi said, sitting down next to him. "Now then, what seems to have you down?"

"Nothing," Naruto said.

"Naruto, you looked like you were depressed. Trust me, you'll feel better if you talk about it," Kakashi said.

Naruto sighed. "I was thinking about Sakura-chan."

"What do you feel for her?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto blushed. "Well, I... I really like her. I want to be more than her friend."

"In other words, you love her," Kakashi said matter of factly.

Naruto nodded. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yeah?" Kakashi asked.

"Have you ever been in love?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi looked at the stars. "I was once. But that was a long time ago."

"What happened to her?" Naruto asked.

"She died," Kakashi said.

"What was she like?" Naruto asked.

"Her name was Rin. She was a very kind, loving woman, but with a temper as short as Sakura's at times," Kakashi said. "You, Sakura, and Sasuke remind me of my old team."

"Can you tell me about them?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi nodded. "When I graduated from the academy at five years of age, I was placed on a team with Rin and Obito Uchiha. Together, we trained under Minato Namikaze, who, as you know, would go on to become the fourth Hokage."

Naruto gasped. "You were the fourth's student?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. Naruto, what do you think of Minato-sensei? After all, he did seal the Nine-Tails into you."

Naruto thought for a moment. "Well, I know he wouldn't have used me for the sealing unless he had no other choice. I think he did it for good reason. But I'm still angry that he used me for that."

"His dieing wish was for you to be seen as a hero for containing the Nine-Tails," Kakashi said, shocking Naruto. "But sadly, only those who were close to him, like myself, were willing to regard you as a hero. I think that if Lady Hisana and I hadn't worked together to look after you, then you'd have died as an infant."

Naruto gasped. "You looked after me?"

"I did," Kakashi said. "And so did Lady Hisana."

"You mean Sakura-chan's granny?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Kakashi said, "Anyway, my relationship with Rin and Obito was much like yours with Sasuke and Sakura. Rin had a crush on me, while Obito had a crush on her. But I spurned all of Rin's advances. At the time, I believed that the shinobi code was everything, and scorned those who broke it. When I became a Jonin, Minato-sensei entrusted me with leading a vital mission. But when Rin was captured by the enemy, I wanted to leave her behind, while Obito wanted to save her, and managed to convince me."

"How did he convince you?" Naruto asked.

"Do you remember what I told you, Sasuke, and Sakura when you three passed the bell test?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded. "Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."

Kakashi nodded. "Obito said those very words to me before running off to save Rin. I followed him, and we rescued her, but it cost Obito's life. In his final moments, he gave me his Sharingan, which Rin transplanted to replace the one I lost."

"That's how you..." Naruto muttered.

"Yes. My Sharingan is a precious gift from Obito," Kakashi said. "Since that day, I've had my present beliefs. But I was unable to protect Rin when she needed me most. And then Minato-sensei gave his life to seal away your tenet. Their deaths have made me reluctant to let people get close to me. I'm always late because I lose track of time visiting them at the memorial stone."

Naruto gave his sensei a sad smile, viewing him in a brand new light. "It must have been tough, not having anyone to open up to."

"It was," Kakashi said. "My only regret is not realizing the importance of comrades until Obito died."

"Is that why you drilled it into us?" Naruto asked. "To keep us from making the same mistakes you did?"

"Yes," Kakashi said, standing. "I'm going to bed. You should too in a while."

Naruto nodded. "Sure thing, sensei," he said before Kakashi left him alone. He stared at the stars for a while longer before curling up to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Makino's assistant walked onto the deck the next morning, and saw a giant iceberg in front of the ship. "Mr. Makino! We've got a problem!"

The yell brought everyone on deck.

"What is that?" Makino asked.

"When I woke up this morning, I found this waiting. We can't get through," the assistant said. "What are we gonna do?"

Makino's eyes widened. "This is it! We're changing everything!" he said, his assistant wide eyed. "You moron! We're standing on the perfect spot to shoot! It's practically begging us to film here! Cherish this moment! The movie gods are smiling down on us! Everyone prepare to disembark!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once everyone was bundled up and off the ship, they started setting up the film equipment.

Naruto noticed Sakura shivering a bit despite her cloak, and held up his own cloak for her, inviting her to share body heat.

Sakura smiled and moved under it with him. "Thanks, Naruto-kun," she said, kissing him on the cheek with a slight blush.

"No prob, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, blushing as well while they watched the filming, which was cut short by Kakashi throwing a kunai with a paper bomb at a ledge.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Makino's assistant yelled.

"Everyone get back!" Kakashi said, prompting Naruto and Sakura to separate, ready to fight.

A man revealed himself. "Welcome, friends, to the Land of Snow."

"You!" Kakashi said.

"Greetings, Princess Koyuki. I do hope you're still carrying around the Hex Crystal," a woman said.

Kakashi gasped and looked at Yukie. "Princess Koyuki?" he asked as another man showed himself.

"You're as good as they say, Kakashi, but it's not good enough," the second man said.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Fu, Lan Fan!" Kakashi said. "You five protect Yukie. Everyone, get back to the ship!"

"Fubuki, Mizore, I'll leave the princess to you," the first man said.

"Very well then," Fubuki said, leaping to the attack.

Kakashi met the first man.

"It's been a long time, Kakashi. Hope you're not planning to run, like last time," the man said.

"Nadare Roga," Kakashi said before attacking Nadare while his team ran in front of Yukie.

"Don't know what's in the script, but I've always wanted to be in a movie," Naruto said, drawing the Kubikiribocho. "Don't you worry, princess. Naruto Uzumaki is here to save ya!" he exclaimed, jumping to the attack.

Mizore pulled his snowboard off his back and got on it, using his chakra to propel himself toward Naruto, who dodged him several times before a huge shuriken came at him and was deflected by a barrier around his armor.

"What the hell?" Lan Fan asked, spinning another shuriken.

Sasuke unfurled a Demon Wind Shuriken and threw it at Mizore, the shuriken shattering on the barrier.

Fu ran through hand signs. "Fire Style: Phoenix Firestorm!" he said, breathing out bird shaped fire that surrounded Mizore, who was unharmed due to the fire dissipating upon reaching him.

Fubuki ran through hand signs. "Ice Style: Tsubame Blizzard!" she said, sending ice birds flying at Sasuke, who dodged them and ran through hand signs.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke said, breathing out a fireball that melted the ice birds.

Yukie gasped at the sight of the fire, a memory coming up.

"Back to the ship, everyone!" Sakura said before seeing Yukie not moving. "Yukie!"

"Princess!" Sandayu exclaimed, running toward her.

Yukie looked at Sandayu. "Sandayu, what are you..."

Fubuki put her fingertips on the ground. "Ice Style: Ice Prison!" she said, sending ice bursting from the ground at Sasuke, who jumped back, sending another fireball at her, which she blocked with an ice wall.

Naruto barely dodged a punch from Mizore, who took advantage of the icy terrain to punch him into a ice wall.

"Naruto!" Kakashi exclaimed, running toward him, going through hand signs. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" he said, sending a water dragon at Mizore, the dragon falling apart before reaching Mizore.

"Sensei, there's something weird about their armor!" Naruto said, standing back to back with Kakashi.

"Yeah. Be careful. It's chakra armor created by the ninja in the Land of Snow," Kakashi said.

"Chakra armor?" Naruto asked.

"But it's definitely a lot stronger than it used to be," Kakashi said.

"So you remember," Nadare said. "The armor increases the chakra within the body, strengthening a handful of the more useful jutsu. A chakra barrier gathers around us as well, able to absorb the chakra of our adversaries. As a result, ninjutsu and genjutsu are useless against us." He then ran through hand signs. "Ice Style: Dragon vs Tiger!"

Kakashi grabbed Naruto and dodged, knowing what the jutsu could do from his battles with Dante.

Yukie completely froze up as Mizore sped toward her, firing ropes from his gauntlet, wrapping them around her, though Sakura quickly severed them, standing in front of him.

"Outta the way, little girl!" Mizore said as he moved to hit her, only for Naruto to intercept him, knocking him to the ground. "You little brat!" he yelled, charging at Naruto, who stopped his punch cold, and the second punch as well, holding Mizore in place, his eyes blood red with slitted pupils. **"What is this chakra?"** he thought.

"Princess, we've got to get out of here!" Sandayu said.

"I won't," Yukie said.

"You must go now! Your life is..." Sandayu said.

"I don't care if I die!" Yukie exclaimed, cutting him off. "I won't go back to the Land of Snow!"

"We don't have time for this!" Naruto said before getting tossed aside.

Mizore launched his gauntlet hand at Yukie to grab her, but Sakura intercepted the hand and was tossed aside and knocked out.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, growling as he summoned his One-Tailed Version 1 chakra cloak and charging at Mizore, punching him into a cliff.

Kakashi ran toward them, intent on aiding.

Nadare ran through hand signs. "Ice Style: White Whale Jutsu!" he said, an ice whale emerging in front of Kakashi to stop him.

"Okay, that was impressive. Not Dante's caliber, but impressive nonetheless," Kakashi said, his Sharingan uncovered. "Guys, get everyone out of here!" he ordered, running through hand signs. "Ice Style: White Whale Jutsu!" he said, making an ice whale to take out Nadare's as his squad carried everyone else to the ship.

"**Sakura-chan, please be okay!"** Naruto thought, looking at the unconscious girl in his arms.

Once everyone was on the ship and back on course, Naruto took Sakura to a cabin and lay her on a bunk before sitting down beside her, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, smiling at how peaceful she looked.

"Let me have a look," Lan Fan said as she entered, pushing Naruto aside and looking over Sakura's arm, which had been wounded by her landing. "She'll be fine. She just needs to rest," she assured Naruto as she applied healing chakra to the wound.

Naruto sighed in relief as he watched Lan Fan work.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura woke several hours later, seeing the cabin before noticing that her hand felt warm. Looking down, she saw Naruto's head lieing beside her, his hand maintaining a secure hold on hers. She couldn't help but blush at the sight.

"He hasn't left your side for anything, even food," a voice said.

Whipping her head around, Sakura relaxed when she saw Kakashi. "He's been here since I got brought in here?"

Kakashi nodded. "He brought you in, and refused point blank to leave your side."

Sakura blushed a bit darker and looked at her blond teammate, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb, making a smile appear on his face. "He really cares about me, huh?"

"Yes, he does," Kakashi said, leaving the room to give them some privacy.

Sakura smiled at Naruto, leaning down and giving him a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for caring about me, Naruto-kun," she whispered, before he started mumbling.

"Sakura-chan, you're so beautiful. I'd give you the world if you wanted it," Naruto muttered, still sleeping.

Sakura blushed again. **"Wow, he's so devoted to me,"** she thought, giving his hand a light squeeze, which he returned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, they arrived in the Land of Snow, and after learning of Yukie really being the princess of the Land of Snow, and that her uncle was after them, agreed to continue the mission. They headed toward a rebel hideout, stopping so that several guys could take leaks.

"Our hideout's not far. Just through this tunnel," Sandayu said once they were underway again.

"This is a big tunnel," Naruto said.

"Years ago, a railroad ran through here," Sandayu said.

"Railroad?" Fu asked.

"It's iced over by now. But dig far enough and you'll find the tracks lieing there still," Sandayu said.

Once they left the tunnel, the crew started setting up their equipment, when a problem was discovered.

"Yukie's up and vanished again!" Makino's assistant exclaimed.

"What?" Makino demanded.

"Fan out and look for her! Radio in if you find her!" Kakashi ordered.

"Got it!" the rest of the ninja said, heading out to find her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yukie's running was interrupted when she tripped and fell down a hill, finding an annoying face looking down at her when she stood. "Geez. How long are you gonna run from your fate?" Naruto asked before reaching for his radio. "This is Naruto. I found her."

"Copy that," Kakashi said. "Everyone back to the convoy."

Naruto picked Yukie up and started heading back toward the group.

"Why do you keep coming for me?" Yukie asked.

"It's my mission," Naruto said. "You can run, but you can't hide."

"Whatever," Yukie said as they reached the convoy.

Fu's head snapped toward the tunnel. "Those Snow ninja from before are heading this way," he said as the ice on the path melted, revealing the train tracks.

"What is that?" Makino asked.

"Chakra running through the rails, melting the ice," Fu said.

"Everyone hide! They mustn't find you!" Sandayu yelled as he ran up the slope.

"You heard him! Everyone hide!" Lan Fan barked, prompting the crew to start moving for cover.

Soon after everyone had taken cover, a train came out of the tunnel, stopping next to the slope.

"Is this the place?" a man asked.

"Yes. We're sure of it," Nadare said as a number of large logs came down the slope and impacted on the train, only slightly jarring it.

Looking up, Doto saw the ones he sought.

"Hear me, Doto! We've waited a long time for this day of reckoning to come!" Sandayu yelled. "Sandayu Asada and 50 loyal warriors stand before you to avenge our great fallen leader, Lord Sosetsu!On this day you will grieve no more!" he proclaimed, drawing cheers from his men.

"What's that fool doing? He's no match for them!" Fu asked from his hiding spot as Sandayu and his men charged down the slope toward Doto's train.

"Kill them all," Doto said, prompting turrets and panels to deploy and begin rapid firing salvos of kunai, quickly bringing death to the rebels.

Lan Fan looked away for a moment. Even as a kunoichi of the Mist, where such bloodbaths were encouraged when attacking, she had never seen such complete and total genocide. Once the salvos stopped, Lan Fan saw that Sandayu, while his men were dead, was still standing, albeit on his last legs. He had been hit in several spots and was badly bleeding. Her medical mind estimated he'd be dead within minutes without medical attention, and if he wasn't finished off. Which a single salvo aimed at him was intended for.

Right before the salvo hit, a green barrier rose around Sandayu, the kunai salvo bouncing harmlessly off it, followed by Sasuke racing across the area while throwing a bomb kunai at the train, damaging it.

While they did that, Fu dropped one of his spiders onto the small peak above the train and made a hand sign. "Metsu!" he said, detonating the spider and causing an avalanche to start burying the train, which had to ditch all but one car to get away.

After the danger passed, the ninja approached Sandayu, who was slumped against the side of the barrier.

Sakura made a one handed hand sign. "Kai!" she said, dispelling the barrier, allowing herself and Lan Fan to reach Sandayu and start healing him while the rest of them looked over the dead.

"How cruel," Fu muttered, bowing his head and giving the dead men a silent prayer.

"Sakura, I've got Sandayu. Give the rest proper burials," Lan Fan said.

"Right," Sakura said, running through hand signs. "Earth Style: Stone Plate Coffin!" she said, having the earth cover the dead men and pull them underground, the bloodstained snow and fallen weapons being the only sign that there had been bloodshed.

"That's what comes of never giving up," Koyuki said bitterly, getting the attention of the others. "If they hadn't stood up to Doto then none of this would have happened."

"You could at least show some respect for the dead!" Naruto said. "They gave their lives for a cause they believed in!"

"Don't you get it?" Koyuki asked. "Spring doesn't come to this country! Our hearts have frozen with the cold!"

"Aren't you the only one with the power to change that?" Fu asked. "At least, that's what Sandayu believes anyway."

"You're all a bunch of idiots!" Koyuki snapped.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Doto looked at his underlings. "Alright. We're going to abduct Koyuki and her pink haired escort."

"Why the escort as well, milord?" Fubuki asked.

"You saw how that blond boy reacted when Mizore knocked her out. If we use his apparent devotion to her against him, then he'll be more inclined to cooperate in the event that the Hex Crystal that Koyuki is carrying is a fake," Doto said.

"Crafty," Nadare said.

"Now, let's do it," Doto said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The ninja looked up as a blimp rose from the valley next to them, the train car from earlier attached to the balloon. Taking advantage of the surprise, the snow ninja took the opportunity to quickly grab Koyuki and Sakura. Sakura tried to fight them off until Nadare slapped a device onto her belly, over her chakra coils, that made her scream in agony as it absorbed her chakra.

Naruto's blood boiled as Sakura's screams reached his ears, but before he could act to save her and Koyuki, the blimp took off out of reach. "SAKURA-CHANNNNNN!" he screamed at the retreating blimp.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura glared at Doto as she started molding chakra in her wrists to break her restraints, only for the device on her belly to suck it up rather painfully, making her scream.

Doto chuckled. "By all means continue struggling. That device completely seals away your chakra."

Sakura's glare turned into a smirk.

"What are you smiling about?" Doto asked.

"My blond haired teammate is very protective of me, and is no doubt plotting how to give you an extremely painful death," Sakura said.

"He's no match for us," Doto said, turning to Koyuki. "Now, Koyuki, hand over the Hex Crystal."

Koyuki took her necklace off and handed it to Doto, who looked it over before crushing it in his hand.

"It's a fake," Doto said. "Fortify the castle defenses. No doubt the kunoichi's team will be coming, and bring the crystal with them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was absolutely livid as he started walking in the direction the blimp went.

"Naruto, calm down. We will save them," Kakashi said.

"They kidnapped Sakura-chan. I will kill those guys while I rescue her!" Naruto snarled as he started transforming into the Nine-Tails state, his murderous intent scaring the film crew as he entered the version 2 form, growing six tails. _**"Snow ninja... PREPARE TO DIEEEEE!"**_ he screamed as he grew the Nine-Tails' arm bones, shoulder blades, spine, and skull from the chakra cloak.

"NARUTO!" Kakashi yelled as said Jinchuriki ran off toward Doto's castle. "Let's go!" he barked, going after Naruto, followed by Sasuke, Fu, and Lan Fan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Snow ninja grunts were starting to get bored, waiting for some action and bitching about the cold. Though one was telling his buddy about his girlfriend.

"When I get home, I'm gonna ask her to marry me," he said before a roar rent the air. "What the hell was that?"

One guy got ripped in half before any of them could react. "SON OF A BITCH!" the guy next to the dead one screamed before his head went flying.

"Intruder!" one guy yelled before Naruto ripped the guy's skull out and started beating him with it. "THIS DOESN'T SEEM PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE!" the guy screamed before he was killed.

Naruto roared as kunai were fired at him, only to bounce off his chakra cloak. _**"DIE!"**_ he screamed as he started moving again, so fast that the Snow ninja couldn't keep sight of him with their kunai rifles, and were quickly slain before Naruto moved into the castle, running straight toward where he felt Doto's malice coming from. _**"DOTO!"**_ he roared as he burst into the throne room. _**"WHERE IS SHE?"**_ he screamed.

Doto remained calm despite the transformed, murderous Jinchuriki standing before him. "So this is how you defeated the guards. You're a Jinchuriki."

Naruto was about to jump at Doto before a light fell from him and rolled on the floor before burning away, revealing a tag with the word "suppress" in the center of a sealing array, followed by the Nine-Tails cloak vanishing. Before he could react, Naruto was restrained and a chakra sealing device was placed on him, draining him of his chakra.

"Take him away," Doto said as Naruto passed out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto awoke in a cherry blossom field. "What the? Where am I?" he asked before he heard a voice.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," Sakura said as she gave his nose a gentle flick with her finger.

"Sakura-chan, where are we?" Naruto asked before he noticed that he and Sakura looked much older, around 23.

Sakura giggled. "Silly, you brought me here for our date," she said, her left hand curled into a loose fist as she held it against her cheek while she giggled.

Naruto gasped lightly as he saw the rings on her ring finger: a simple diamond ring, and an unadorned gold band next to it. Looking at his own left hand, he found a gold ring on the ring finger.

"You okay, honey?" Sakura asked, feeling his forehead. "Did you forget? It's our three year anniversary. Remember? This field is where you asked me to marry you. I was so happy when you asked that I cried."

Naruto slowly recovered from the shock. **"Wait! There's something important that I need to do. But what is it?"** he thought before Sakura pushed him onto his back as she wrapped her arms around his neck, making him blush as he felt a certain pair of soft objects pressed into his chest. **"She really filled out in all the right places,"** he thought.

"I did this when you proposed too," Sakura said. "We started making out, then you took us home and we made love," she said before pressing her lips to his.

Naruto was shocked again but quickly kissed back, running his hands on her back, all other thoughts quickly leaving his mind.

"_**Naruto! Naruto!"**_ a voice in his head yelled. Naruto thought the voice was vaguely familiar, but ignored it. **_"Naruto! Wake up!"_** the voice yelled again, but was once again ignored as Naruto and Sakura rolled so that he was on top, trailing kisses on her neck, liking the moan that came from her throat. _**"DAMMIT NARUTO! WAKE UP!"**_ the voice roared as a shock ran through Naruto's body, making him pull away from Sakura.

"What's wrong, honey?" Sakura asked, concerned for Naruto's health.

"_**None of this is real! You're in a genjutsu!"**_ the voice yelled as the world vanished.

Naruto opened his eyes again, finding himself hanging from a ceiling in a dungeon cell, his feet shackled as well.

"_**You were placed in a genjutsu, but I broke you from it,"**_ the Nine-Tails said. **_"It will take time for me to recover from breaking you out of a genjutsu with my chakra locked away. Once I recover, I will destroy the device that binds your chakra."_**

Naruto nodded, looking into the cell across from him, seeing Sakura in an identical set up, probably under a genjutsu as well. Of the same sort that he had been in he supposed, given that a huge blush adorned her cheeks, and she was moaning lightly. "Sakura-chan!" he muttered, pulling on his wrist manacles, trying to summon some chakra, only for it to be painfully ripped from him.

"_**Patience. I require only a few minutes of rest, then I can free your chakra, and you can rescue the princess and your vixen,"**_ the Nine-Tails said, the vixen comment making Naruto blush, but he nodded, waiting.

"Serves you right," Koyuki said from her cell next to Sakura's.

"You too," Naruto retorted. "No spring. You said there was no spring. You gave up on your dreams didn't you?"

"Dreams don't come true, kid," Koyuki said.

"I'm a Jinchuriki," Naruto said. "You know what life is like for us?"

Koyuki shook her head. "No. I don't"

"Basically, it's a living hell. Most people think we're demons in human form, treating us like vermin at worst, and weapons at best. But we're not demons. We're living, breathing prisons for demons. The Tailed Beasts," Naruto said.

"How many of you are there?" Koyuki asked.

"There were nine of us. But one of us got her beast extracted, and it killed her. Looks like I'm gonna have to live my life watching my back. Cause the one's who did it are a group of criminals," Naruto said. "No one ever cared about me before. I used to think there was no place in this world for me. But I still found friends. I kept at it and didn't give up. And good things happened. When you give up, your dreams and everything else... they're gone! I'll show you that your father was that strong!"

"_**I'm ready,"**_ the Nine-Tails said, sending a huge surge of its chakra into the chakra sealing device, the pure demon chakra overloading and destroying it.

Naruto summoned the version 1 Nine-Tails cloak with a single tail and broke his manacles off. "Now to get you two out," he said, ripping the bars out of his cell and jumping across the gap to Sakura's cell, ripping the bars off as a guard ran at him, only to get his neck snapped and his keys stolen. Naruto got rid of the chakra cloak and unlocked Sakura's manacles before taking her in his arms to let the Nine-Tails start channeling its chakra through her to get to her chakra seal. The chakra going in small amounts to avoid hurting her. The chakra seal actively absorbed the chakra, shocking Sakura and making her whimper in Naruto's arms, hugging him tightly. "It's okay. I'm here, Sakura-chan," he whispered, rubbing circles on her back. The device overloaded and broke after a couple of minutes, allowing Naruto to remove it as Sakura opened her eyes. "Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" he asked.

Sakura blushed as soon as she realized she was in his arms. "I-I'm fine!" she said quickly, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm up.

Naruto unzipped his jacket and put it around Sakura's shoulders.

"Naruto-kun, you'll freeze without your jacket!" Sakura said as she put her arms in the sleeves.

"It's alright, Sakura-chan. I'll be fine," Naruto said, gesturing to his long sleeves. "Let's get the princess and get outta here.

Sakura nodded. "Right!" she said as an explosion rocked the castle. "Must be the others."

"Yeah," Naruto said, summoning his chakra cloak and ripping the bars off Koyuki's cell and freeing her of her manacles. "Let's go!" he said, heading for the lift with them and heading to the upper levels, where Kakashi intercepted them. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Kakashi said, tossing Naruto a hip pouch and Sakura a medical pouch, and cloaks for both of them. "You look alright, princess."

"Yeah," Koyuki said. "You switched my Hex Crystal for a fake without telling me, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I apologize for that. But I figured it was what he was after," Kakashi said, pulling out the crystal and tossing it to Naruto. "Keep it safe, Naruto."

Naruto nodded as he put the crystal in his hip pouch. "Alright. Let's take down Doto."

"Naruto, you can't beat Doto!" Koyuki said.

Naruto just looked at her and gave her one of his heart warming smiles. "I'll definitely beat him. Just have a little faith in me," he said as Doto dropped onto the catwalk unexpected behind Sakura, who drew a kunai and stabbed him as she turned, quick as a flash.

"Big mistake," Sakura said before his hand closed around her throat, choking her as he pulled his robe off, revealing black chakra armor beneath it.

"Now then, Jinchuriki, hand over the Hex Crystal, or I'll snap her pretty little neck," Doto said, lightly squeezing Sakura's neck to make a point as she struggled.

Naruto glared as red chakra started swirling around him.

"Stop!" Doto said. "You change... she dies." The threat made the Nine-Tails settle down.

Naruto reached into his hip pouch and pulled out the Hex Crystal.

"Naruto no!" Kakashi said.

"I have to," Naruto said, placing the crystal in Doto's waiting hand.

Doto grinned sinisterly as he threw Sakura into Naruto before grabbing Koyuki and fleeing the castle as it collapsed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After getting out of the castle, Naruto entered his three-tailed version 2 form and ran in the direction of Doto's malice.

"There he goes again..." Kakashi muttered. "Sakura, go back Naruto up. Fu, Lan Fan, Sasuke, we're going after Nadare's group."

"Right!" Sakura said, running off in the direction Naruto went in, finding a bunker in her path after a while. "Might as well keep Doto from getting backup. I need to blow off some steam anyway," she muttered as she walked over to the solid steel door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The snow ninja guarding the bunker door looked up as it started bending and groaning. "We're in a perfect ambush position," one said as they took positions

"Can you ambush someone who's trying to punch through a steel door to get to you?" another one asked as the door was finally punched off its hinges into the opposite wall, revealing a grinning Sakura.

"Okay, so who's first?" Sakura asked with a grin as she cracked her knuckles.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A grunt looked up as the alarm sounded. "What's going on?" he asked before Sakura's arm shot through the wall next to him and grabbed his throat, slamming him into the wall and kicked the wall segment into another wall, crushing the grunt.

Another one tried to shoot her with a kunai gun, only to be disarmed, punched in the gut, thrown into another grunt's nuts headfirst, and punched through the wall with the other guy.

Sakura grinned as she headed toward the other grunts, slamming two of their heads together, punching one in the gut as the other tried to shoot her, only to get punched in the chest, breaking several ribs, before she kicked another one in the head, breaking his jaw, disarming another one, punching him in the gut, delivering several punches to his face and chest before kneeing him in the gut, forcing him to the ground, grabbing his leg, punching him in the nuts, and kicking him away before grabbing another guy and snapping his neck. "You guys rely way too much on that armor. It may protect you from ninjutsu and genjutsu, but it doesn't look like it does the same for a good old fashioned ass kicking."

"Hey sweet cheeks!" a grunt yelled as he threw a kunai at her, which she dodged, and drew a sword. "Bring it on!"

Sakura grinned as she started walking toward the grunt, only for a huge crate to drop between them.

"Hey! I was supposed to distract her!" the grunt yelled from the other side, prompting Sakura to turn and see another one on a pile of crates.

"You ratted me out you son of a bitch!" the grunt yelled as he threw a bomb kunai, which Sakura dodged. "Oh shit!" he yelled before Sakura rushed him, elbowing him in the face, grabbing his leg, smashing him into the floor several times, and throwing him into the crate, snapping his neck as several others came at her.

Sakura just ran at them and disarmed one, throwing him by his own weapon, elbowed another in the gut, hit him with the kunai gun, kicked another in the chest, caving his chest in as he flew into a wall, kicked another in the nuts to knock him down, and took aim at his head, pulling the trigger, only for it to be out of ammo. "No prob," she said, hitting him in the head with it to snap his neck before a crate dropped onto her.

"We got her!" a grunt exclaimed before Sakura started lifting it up, still grinning.

"Monster strength, dipshits!" Sakura said as she threw it at them, crushing them.

"You killed my friends, you little bitch!" the sword wielding one from earlier yelled as he rushed her, slashing at her head, which was dodged and countered with a punch to the face. Sakura dodged an overhead slash and kneed him in the gut, punched him in the face, dodged a stab, grabbed the sword holding hand's wrist, twisted it, kicked him in the knee to break it, and kicked him in the head, breaking his neck and knocking him away from her, and leaving his sword in her hand. She then grabbed another guy and ran the sword through his heart before throwing him into a wall. She then kicked another attacker in the nuts and slammed him headfirst into the ground, leaving his gray matter trickling out of his skull. "It's been fun, but I have somewhere to be," she said before throwing a bomb kunai into a crate pile full of paper bombs, blowing them up and killing more guards, though she took a moment to position a concrete barrier for one to land on crotch first, sliding off in pain as she left.

At that moment, the leader of the group came into the room. "What the hell happened here? I go to the can for five minutes and you let the place fall apart?" he asked as he ran over to the sole survivor of Sakura's rampage. "What the hell happened?"

"Pink haired demon of death, and pain!" the grunt said in a voice that was about ten octaves higher than normal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke and Lan Fan dodged kunai that caused ice spikes to come up, courtesy of Fubuki.

"20° left in five seconds, 30 meters out!" Lan Fan said, throwing kunai with wires attached that covered an area between some tree branches while Mizore was speeding toward Fu, who started throwing kunai at him.

"Come on, don't make me laugh!" Mizore said as the kunai were deflected by his armor and he jumped off his snowboard, finding that the kunai had been carrying innumerable paper tags, which now surrounded him.

"Now... you're in range," Fu said as he made a hand sign. "Metsu!" The collective explosions combined into one huge one that blew Fubuki into the wires that Lan Fan had set up, knocking the wings off her armor.

Fubuki broke the wires and jumped back. "You're dealing with the ninja of the Snow here! It'll take more than that to bring us down!"

"Probably," Sasuke said as he appeared behind her. "Lions Barrage!" he said as he grabbed her and subjected her to his original combo and knocked her toward the ground, where Mizore stumbled from the smoke of the explosion, right before Fubuki collided with him. After their armor seemed to react, it blew up, killing them both. "What just happened?" Sasuke asked.

"Their armor must have reacted in some negative way," Fu said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere, Kakashi stood on a cliff opposite Nadare.

"You really think you've got a shot? Maybe you outta turn tail and run like last time," Nadare taunted.

"I didn't have a choice last time. But this time, I can show you one of my original techniques," Kakashi said, making hand signs and grabbing his wrist, his hand crackling with electricity.

Nadare grinned and made hand signs as well. "Ice Style: Wolf Fang Avalanche!" he said, forming snow on the slope next to them into wolves as Kakashi charged, jumping over several as one charged at him.

"Lightning Blade!" Kakashi exclaimed, going right through the wolf with his attack and hitting the power source on Nadare's armor, damaging it.

Nadare jumped back, still grinning. "Almost had me there," he said as the avalanche from his jutsu knocked them from the cliff, Kakashi grabbing onto him from behind. "What!"

"Even without ninjutsu and genjutsu, a ninja always has taijutsu! You rely too much on this armor!" Kakashi said before slamming Nadare headfirst into the ground, killing him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Doto landed in front of an altar in the center of a ring of cliffs and tossed Koyuki aside as he walked up to it, inserting the Hex Crystal into a key hole, which made it light up and spread to the cliffs, making them glow. After several minutes, the glowing ceased. "I don't see it. The treasure, where is it?" he asked as the ice and snow started melting. He and Koyuki both noted the increase in temperature. "A heat generator? This is the hidden treasure of the Kazahana clan?" he asked in disbelief.

"_**DOTO!"**_ a demonic sounding voice yelled.

Doto turned and saw Naruto charging at him, stopping on the opposite side of the island the altar was on and dispelling his chakra cloak. "You just don't give up!" Doto said, running through hand signs. "Ice Style: Black Dragon Blizzard!" he said, thrusting his hand forward, forming the ice into a black dragon that flew at Naruto, knocking him into the air.

"NARUTO!" Koyuki screamed as Naruto landed hard. "That's enough! If you don't stop, he's going to kill you!"

Naruto slowly got to his feet. "I told you. If you just have a little faith in me. I promise you, I won't lose!"

Doto glared and ran at Naruto, intending to take his head off with a punch, until Sakura intercepted him and threw a chakra enhanced punch at him, damaging his armor. He quickly punched her away, her landing in front of Naruto.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he held Sakura.

"Naruto-kun... I fractured his armor," Sakura said, her vision blurring. "The rest... is up... to you..." she said before slipping into unconsciousness.

Naruto glared at Doto and made a familiar hand sign. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he exclaimed, making a large number of Shadow Clones and having them attack Doto.

"Come on you little half wit!" Doto said, running through hand signs. "Twin Dragon Blizzard!" he yelled, sending two ice dragons out, forming a black cyclone that took out all the clones. "This rediculous little fuss is over!"

"Not yet it's not!" Naruto snapped, forming a Giant Rasengan with the aid of a Shadow Clone while another clone held Sakura. "I'll end this," he said, running toward Doto with the clone as the sun rose over the mountains, reflecting off the heat generator plates and making the Rasengan glow with rainbow colors.

Fu, Lan Fan, Kakashi, and Sasuke arrived in time to see it. "Rainbow chakra! Just like in the movie!" Lan Fan said, dazzled by it.

Doto took a swing at Naruto, only to hit the clone, dispelling it.

"Giant Rasengan!" Naruto yelled, slamming it into Doto, soon overloading his chakra armor and sending him flying into one of the generator plates, cracking the layer of ice on it. As his body fell from it, some of the ice did as well. The effect was immediate. The country began thawing, ice quickly giving way to grass, cold giving way to warmth. Naruto's Shadow Clone carried Sakura to him and dispelled after handing her to him.

The sunlight on her face made Sakura stir. Opening her eyes, she blushed as she found herself in Naruto's arms. "Um, Naruto-kun, you can put me down now."

Naruto blushed and set her on her feet, at which she gasped in pain. "Sakura-chan! What's wrong?"

Sakura's hand glowed with green chakra as she ran it over her chest. "Doto's punch cracked four of my ribs," she said as she started healing the cracks.

"Believe in the future. If you do, the spring will surely come," a voice said.

Looking up, the group saw a giant recording of the former daimyo, Sosetsu Kazahana, and a young Koyuki.

"What will you do when it comes, Koyuki?" Sosetsu asked.

"I'm going to become... a princess," the young Koyuki said.

"Oh? What kind of princess?" Sosetsu asked.

"Let's see. One's who strong. And who's kind. And most of all, one who fights for justice!" young Koyuki said.

"That's some dream," Sosetsu said with a chuckle. "Well, as long as you believe in your dream, and never give up, one day you'll be that princess." He then put the Hex Crystal around Koyuki's neck. "You can see her can't you? There's a beautiful princess standing right there in front of you," he said, looking at what seemed to have been the camera with a somehow knowing look.

"No way. Did he know this would happen?" Fu asked no one in particular.

"No telling," Sakura said as she finished with her ribs with Lan Fan's help, though she remained in Naruto's arms.

"But, I have sort of a problem. There's something else I want to be," young Koyuki said.

"Really? What's that?" Sosetsu asked.

"An actress!" young Koyuki said, causing Sosetsu to laugh with her.

Koyuki laughed too, shedding tears for the first time in years.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After Koyuki was inaugurated as the Land of Snow's daimyo and Fu got an autograph for Rin, the group bade her and Sandayu goodbye and returned to the Leaf Village, where Fu and Lan Fan parted ways with them to return to the Mist Village. Once they delivered their report to Tsunade, Squad 7 went their separate ways: Kakashi to the memorial stone, Sasuke to his house, and Naruto and Sakura to her house to hang out and eat.

Sasuke was seething as he entered his home. Once again, he'd been outdone by Naruto and Sakura, who he still refused to believe were stronger than him.

"So, what's your answer?" Sakon asked as he and the rest of the Sound Four revealed themselves.

Sasuke smirked. "I'm going with you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Finally. Another chapter done. Longest one yet if I'm not mistaken. Hope you enjoy it. For those who care, Naruto beating a guy to death with his own skull, and Sakura's rampage in the bunker, are references to Red vs Blue.


	9. Mission 9: Betrayal

An Extra Edge

Last time, Squad 7 returned to the Leaf, where Sasuke, out of spite for Naruto, revealed his status as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to the rest of their age group, and was shocked that they thought more highly of him for containing it. After a mission in the Land of Snow, Sasuke decided that he would seek out Orochimaru.

**Legal Stuff: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Just my fics and OCs.**

"Lava Style: Lava Globs!" Ling briefly glanced up at the sound of Rin's voice to see her jutsu reduce a tree to a pile of goo, giving her a small smile as she ran over to him and Mei.

"Mommy, I did it! I mastered the jutsu!" Rin exclaimed happily, jumping up and down as though she were on a sugar high.

"That's my daughter! I'm proud of you!" Mei said, patting her daughter's head, mother and daughter exchanging smiles. "Alright. Time for the next one, honey." As she said this, Mei ran through several hand signs. "Lava Style: Lava Monster Jutsu!" she said, spitting a large amount of lava into the air, where it formed into a broad, thin sheet before coming down on a group of trees, melting them and producing a large cloud of steam. "This jutsu is very hard to dodge, and if the target is still alive afterward, you can attack them while their vision is obscured by the steam." After explaining how the jutsu worked, Mei taught Rin the hand signs and set her to practicing.

"She's getting a lot stronger," Ling said, turning his attention back to the puppet he was doing maintainence on. "Before long, she won't need my protection anymore."

"But I get the feeling you'll always be there to help when she needs it," Mei said, smiling at him.

Ling glanced at her to return the smile. "Lady Mizukage, you've got a little lava on your lip."

Mei chuckled and wiped it away. "Ling, may I ask you something?"

"Of course," Ling said, continuing to work on his puppet.

"Why do your clan and the Haruno clan not get along very well?" Mei asked.

Ling dripped a few drops of a special lubricant onto his puppet's wrist and tested the maneuverability of it as he thought. "Well, it all started with our common ancestors, the Hazama clan. In the Hazama clan, the next clan head was selected by the current one. But one head had two sons, and died before he could name a successor. So the two heirs got into a huge fight, and eventually, the clan split into two factions, each led by one of the brothers, and went their separate ways. Thus the Hazama name died, and in its place rose the Haruno and Osoreida clans. In time, the Harunos joined Hashirama Senju when he founded the Leaf Village, and my clan came to the Mist when it rose. Over the years the Osoreida and Haruno clans developed a stable working relationship, but on a personal level, we don't get along too well, and meetings between us more often than not end in bloodshed."

"I see," Mei said, looking back toward Rin.

"But I believe that the day will come when the Osoreida and Haruno clans will get along peacefully," Ling said.

"Wait. If you have a common ancestor, then why do they have Steel Style and you don't?" Mei asked.

"The Osoreida clan had it at first, but it eventually left our blood," Ling said. "The Harunos still have it because they resorted to inbreeding to ensure that they would all have the Kekkei Tota. These days, the only members of my clan who have access to the Steel Style are those who have a human puppet made from a Haruno in their collection. I was lucky enough to receive Lady Hisana, the strongest of the Haruno clan."

"I see. It's true that some clans with Kekkei Genkai resort to inbreeding to maintain them," Mei said.

"Though Sakura may end that tradition," Ling said.

"Why do you think that?" Mei asked.

"She and that blond teammate of hers seem rather close," Ling said. "I'd say she's falling in love with him, slowly but surely. Naruto Uzumaki... he's an interesting one."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anko Mitarashi was a happy woman right now. She had managed to score some Sand Dango, and it was absolutely delicious. As she was heading toward the Yagami compound to share it with her apprentice, she noticed a peculiar sight. Sasuke Uchiha was heading toward the gate, packed for a trip. This struck a suspicious chord with her, given that he had been branded with a curse mark by Orochimaru. Putting her dango back in the bag she was carrying it in, she followed him. "And where are you off to at this hour?" she asked once she caught up with him.

Sasuke stopped and turned, recognizing her. "Does it matter where I'm going?"

Anko frowned at his attitude. "This road leads out of the village. And you're packed for a trip. Where are you going?" she asked, having an idea of the answer.

"I'm going to Orochimaru," Sasuke said calmly.

Anko's frown became a glare. "Have you lost your damn mind?" she asked. "Orochimaru is a monster! He killed the Third Hokage and did everything he could to destroy this village! Whatever you're expecting from him, he won't give it to you for free! All he wants is to use your body like a new suit of clothes! There will be nothing left of you!"

"None of that matters now," Sasuke said. "I have to sever all ties in order to grow strong enough to achieve my goal. If it means gaining the power I need, then I would give Orochimaru my body a thousand times over."

Anko gasped at Sasuke words. "What the hell makes you think you need to do that to grow stronger? You can get stronger here in the Leaf! What brought this on?"

"We of the Uchiha clan are superior to other shinobi," Sasuke said. "And yet time and again I've been outdone by Naruto and Sakura, the dead last and fangirl. They were made chunin and I, the last Uchiha, was not! They are nothing compared to me! By gaining power from Orochimaru, I can not only destroy Itachi, but I can put those two in their place beneath me as well!"

Anko's gaze hardened as she set her bag down on the ground. "Sorry, Uchiha. But I'm not like the rest of these villagers who polish you like some rare jewel. I don't care about your lineage. I won't let you set one foot outside this village."

"Too bad," Sasuke said. "But I've got some friends."

Anko gasped as Sakon appeared behind her and knocked her out before she could react.

"Let's go," Sasuke said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anko woke to find herself in a hospital bed.

"You're finally awake," a voice next to her said.

Looking over, Anko saw a man in a black kimono with a blood red sash and flames embroidered on the ends of the sleeves, a pair of identical bladed bracers, a Leaf headband around his neck, and a coat that was identical to hers sitting in a chair by her bed, eating the dango she had bought. If it were anyone else, she'd have sent her snakes after him, but this one was different. "Hey there, Gaki."

"Still calling me Gaki instead of Yoshimori," Yoshimori said. "I hope you had been intending to share this dango with me."

"I was," Anko said before she remembered Sasuke and jumped out of bed, seeing that a few hours had passed. "I need to see Lady Hokage right now! It's urgent!"

"No need. I'm already here," Tsunade said, having walked in as Anko spoke, with Shizune in tow. "What happened?"

"Sasuke Uchiha has left the village to join Orochimaru!" Anko said.

Tsunade gasped. "Shizune! Get Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno in my office right now!"

"Yes ma'am!" Shizune said, leaving to send out the summons.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto met Sakura outside Tsunade's office. "Any idea what she wants?"

"No idea. The ANBU just said it was urgent and to report to Lady Tsunade immediately," Sakura said before they entered. "You summoned us, Lady Tsunade?"

"Naruto, Sakura, an urgent situation has risen," Tsunade said. "Last night, Sasuke Uchiha left the village as a rogue ninja." The news made Naruto and Sakura gasp. "I'm assigning the two of you to put together a team and bring him back by any means necessary."

"We'll need a team of chunin and jonin," Sakura said.

"I'm afraid there aren't any available. You have to make due with the genin in your age group," Tsunade said. "Now go!"

"Yes ma'am!" Naruto and Sakura said, knowing how important the mission was as they left to assemble a team.

"We'll definitely need Shikamaru and Kiba," Naruto said. "Shikamaru's really smart, and Kiba's got a sharp nose."

Sakura nodded in agreement, internally marveling at Naruto. He was thinking like a shinobi. "We could use Neji and Lee too. Neji's Byakugan can see the enemy and any traps before we reach them. And Lee's taijutsu is perfect against enemies with good defense against ninjutsu and genjutsu."

"I'll get Kiba and Shikamaru. You get Neji and Lee," Naruto said, heading off to find the dog user and lazy ass shadow user.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a few minutes, the group of six met in front of the gate, where Kiba and Akamaru got to work picking up Sasuke's scent. Once they had it, they set out, not stopping for anything except brief breaks to catch their breaths. After a few hours, Neji signaled for them to stop.

"I see them," Neji said, focusing. "There are four of them, and one of them has a coffin next to him. Something is keeping me from seeing into it clearly, but it looks like Sasuke is in it. In a death like trance, I think."

"Why would they do that?" Naruto asked.

"Who knows. At least this way he's easier to manage," Shikamaru said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Damn. We're losing time, when we didn't have much time to spare to begin with," Sakon said as they rested.

"It can't be helped. We lose too much strength fighting at level 2," Tayuya said.

"What troubles me most is the fact that we can't use our bodies," Jirobo said.

"Against two jonin, there wasn't any choice. If we had tried to conserve our strength, we might have been bested," Kidomaru said as one of the threads attached to his fingers twitched.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shikamaru hid in a bush with Neji and Sakura, watching them. **"Seems they haven't noticed us yet,"** he thought before Sakon threw a kunai with three paper bombs into the tree behind them. Moving quickly, they jumped to avoid the blast, but we blown forward by the shockwave, landing in front of the sound four.

"What's this? Poked the bush and got a couple of bugs instead of rabbits," Tayuya said.

"We're not here to fight," Shikamaru said as he, Neji, and Sakura got to their feet. "We came to negotiate."

Kidomaru scoffed. "Then what are these?" he asked as he yanked his arms forward, revealing threads attached to Naruto, Lee, and Kiba as he yanked them forward.

Kiba pulled a smoke bomb and threw it down, blocking the Sound Four's view.

"That won't do any good," Kidomaru said. "These threads are thinner and stronger than wire, and harder to detect. You're a bunch of..." he would have continued had he not felt himself be paralyzed. "My body!"

"Shadow Possession complete," Shikamaru said as the smoke cleared, revealing the Sound Four to be caught in his shadow. "Thanks for falling into our trap."

"Well..." Sakon said. "We have interesting techniques too." As he said this, a volley of shuriken flew at Shikamaru, distracting him enough to break the shadow possession.

Jirobo quickly slammed his palms on the ground, sending cracks in a circle around the retrieval team. "Earth Style: Clay Dome Prison!" he said, forming a dome around them.

"Dammit!" Sakura exclaimed.

"I'll take care of these guys," Jirobo said. "I want to recover, if only a little."

"Well catch up when you're done," Kidomaru said, picking up the coffin Sasuke was in before he, Sakon, and Tayuya headed out.

"Dammit! We gotta get out!" Naruto exclaimed, holding his hand out and forming a basketball sized Rasengan, charging at the wall with it. "Giant Rasengan!" he exclaimed, slamming it into the wall and making a huge dent, which immediately repaired itself. "What the hell?"

"This is no ordinary wall," Neji said, activating his Byakugan. "He's draining our chakra!"

"We gotta get outta here before we're drained!" Kiba yelled, feeding Akamaru a food pill and taking one himself. "Beast Mimicry!" he said, becoming more feral looking. "Human Mimicry!" he said, transforming Akamaru into a identical form of him before they jumped into the air and started spinning. "Fang Over Fang!" he yelled as he and Akamaru damaged the wall and ground several times before stopping. But the damage to the wall and ground repaired immediately. "Dammit!" he exclaimed as Akamaru's transformation was undone.

Shikamaru looked around at the repairing wall before turning to face it. "Hey! Let me talk to your leader! We won't follow Sasuke anymore! So let us out!"

"What the hell are you saying, Shikamaru?" Sakura snapped.

"Sorry. But all of you are my meal," Jirobo answered, continuing to drain them.

Shikamaru turned back to his team, smirking. "Now we can let ourselves out."

"How?" Lee asked.

"I only asked him to let us out so I could determine his position," Shikamaru said. "The damage to the wall repairs at different speeds depending on the spot. The closer it is to him, the faster it repairs." Shikamaru then pointed at the wall directly across from him. "Right there is the weakest point. That's our way out. Sakura, with your monster strength, you can punch right through it and get us out."

Sakura grinned in understanding. "I get it."

"A brilliant plan, Shikamaru-san!" Lee said.

Sakura turned to where Shikamaru pointed and pulled one of her gloves on. "Stand back." After charging chakra into her fist, Sakura ran at the wall and punched it with a yell, making a hole big enough for them to get out through.

"Sakura-chan, you're the best," Naruto said, grinning at her once they were free.

Jirobo glared as he released his jutsu, making the dome fall apart.

"How do you like that?" Kiba yelled as he gave Jirobo the finger.

"So you got out..." Jirobo muttered. "Not bad."

"Please, allow me to face him," Lee said, stepping to the front of the group. "You cannot waste time here. You must pursue Sasuke-kun! Leave this one to me. With your chakra depleted, you will have trouble with him. But I do not use chakra. So I am the best choice to face him," he said as he took a stance.

Naruto nodded. "Alright. Be careful, Lee."

Sakura reached into her medical pouch and pulled out a bag. "Everyone eat these," she said as she opened the bag, revealing food pills. "They're my clan's special food pills."

"Thanks, Sakura," Kiba said as they took the pills, feeling their chakra and energy return.

"Let's go, guys!" Naruto said. With that, the group went off to follow Jirobo's team, leaving him alone with Lee.

"Come, let us fight!" Lee exclaimed, charging at Jirobo and jumping into the air. "Leaf Hurricane!" he yelled, kicking at Jirobo's head, only for Jirobo to catch his kick and smash him into the ground before throwing him away. "You are strong," Lee said as he got to his feet, taking his stance again before charging.

Jirobo easily blocked and parried Lee's blows. After a few minutes, he punched Lee in the face, sending him flying back. "You can't beat me!"

Lee stood and glared defiantly. "I will never give up!" he yelled as he reached into his leg warmers and unlocked his weights before throwing them away "No matter what happens, I will defeat you!" he vowed as he cross his arms in an X in front of him. "The Eight Inner Gates. First Gate: Gate of Opening, Release!" As the gate opened, veins in Lee's forehead bulged, and he disappeared from view.

Jirobo was caught off guard by Lee's increased speed and was unprepared for the kick that knocked him into the air, breaking his nose and cracking his jaw. But that was the least of his worries as Lee appeared behind him and wrapped bandages around him before turning them toward the ground and rotating fast.

"Primary Lotus!" Lee yelled as he piledrove Jirobo headfirst into the ground, making a crater as he jumped away from the sound ninja, panting.

"Not bad," Jirobo said as he rose from the crater, red triangle marks spreading over his body, as he ignored his bleeding head wound. "You made me bleed," he said as the marks stopped and turned black.

Lee, still panting, barely blocked a punch that sent him flying into a tree. "He is much stronger now," he said as he stood. "The Eight Inner Gates. Second Gate: Gate of Rest." As the second gate opened, the veins in Lee's forehead bulged more as his strength and energy returned, allowing him to trade blows with Jirobo on an equal level, but it wasn't enough to beat him, so he knocked Jirobo away again and crossed his arms. "The Eight Inner Gates. Third Gate: Gate of Life. Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain. Fifth Gate. Gate of Closing: open!" As the gates opened, Lee's skin turned red and his sweat turned green, evaporating immediately.

Jirobo moved to block a strike with his arm when Lee disappeared again, only for the blow to be strong enough to break that arm. His cry of pain was cut of as Lee pummeled him fast and hard into the air before wrapping a bandage around Jirobo's waist and pulling him toward him, poised to strike.

"Hidden Lotus!" Lee yelled as he drove his fist and foot into Jirobo's midsection at the same time, sending him crashing into the ground. "Surely he did not survive that," Lee muttered as he landed, the effects of the gates still going. He was thoroughly surprised when Jirobo stood from the crater, in the second stage of his curse mark, having red skin, warts on his forehead and upper arms, and yellow eyes with black scleras.

"I am going to kill you!" Jirobo yelled, pissed that he couldn't suck any chakra from Lee.

"No. I will kill you," Lee said, crossing his arms again, focusing. "THE EIGHT INNER GATES! SIXTH GATE: GATE OF JOY! OPEN!" As the gate opened, a massive surge of power coursed through Lee's body before he disappeared and reappeared in front of Jirobo, kicking him into the air with such force and speed that Jirobo's neck snapped and Lee's leg caught fire from the friction on the air. He quickly followed Jirobo into the air and started punching him with flaming fists. "ASA KUJAKU!" With the final punch, he sent Jirobo crashing into the ground, making a large crater. The effects of the Inner Gates wore off as Lee's appearance returned to normal, leaving him exhausted. "Guy-sensei, I hope I have made you proud," Lee said as he got to his feet and limped over to Jirobo's prone form, where the curse mark was receding, leaving the corpse in its normal form. "My friends, I fear that I will not be able to help you further in this mission." With that, Lee fell back, exhausted and badly injured.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neji caught sight of the remaining members of the Sound Four. "I see them."

"Alright. What's our next move?" Kiba asked.

"I'll transform into their teammate and approach them," Shikamaru said. "They left him alone to deal with us, expecting him to kill us. They've underestimated us, which is good. So they won't suspect us of coming after them."

Sakura nodded. "Alright. Do it. We'll be close enough to back you up, but far enough away that we stay hidden."

Shikamaru nodded and made a hand sign, transforming into Jirobo and heading toward the Sound ninja.

"What took you so long, Jirobo?" Sakon asked.

"I wanted to get every bit of their chakra," Shikamaru said, deducing it as an expected response from Jirobo's jutsu.

"Typical reason, you gluttonous fatass!" Tayuya said. "Now take back the coffin from Kidomaru! Carrying it is your job!"

"Right," Shikamaru said, moving to take the coffin from Kidomaru, internally smirking. They were just giving it to him. Before he could take it, however, he had to dodge an attack from Sakon. "Why'd you do that?" he asked as he landed on a branch.

"You're not Jirobo," Kidomaru said.

Knowing that they had seen through it, Shikamaru undid his transformation, prompting his teammates to join him. "How did you know?"

"The real Jirobo was always scolding Tayuya about her language," Kidomaru said, tossing the coffin to Sakon. "Sakon, Tayuya, go on ahead. I'll deal with them."

Sakon nodded before he and Tayuya headed off.

Kidomaru built up something in his mouth. "Ninja Art: Spider Web Net!" He spat spider webbing from his mouth, pinning Shikamaru to a tree before he could react. A shadow appeared behind him, revealing six Sakuras coming at him. Jumping off the branch he was on, Kidomaru spat a bunch of webbing into a ball in his hands. "Ninja Art: Spiral Spider Web!" He extended the webbing into a web that caught the six Sakuras. The one next to Naruto turned into mud and fell apart.

Kiba and a transformed Akamaru came at Kidomaru while he was in the air. "Fang Over Fang!" They started spinning like drills as they neared their spider like opponent. Kidomaru simply smirked and used threads attached to his hands to dodge them and land safely on another branch.

Naruto came at him from above, a Rasengan in hand. "Rasengan!" Kidomaru barely dodged the attack. Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru tried to go after him, but found that they were stuck in webbing. Neji came at Kidomaru from behind, but was dodged and entangled in a web.

"Dammit! He got all six of us!" Shikamaru said.

Kidomaru smirked at the struggling Neji. "Let's see how you like the inside of an airtight cocoon." He then wrapped Neji in a cocoon of silk like a spider would a fly.

"Dammit!" Sakura cursed, reaching into her medical pouch and pulling out a kunai, trying to cut the web she was in. When that failed, she tried ripping it with her monster strength, much to Kidomaru's amusement.

"It's useless. My spider silk is so strong that not even a pair of elephants could pull it apart. Hmm. This girl can use Earth Style Shadow Clones," Kidomaru said as he jumped down to a branch. He reached into his mouth with all six of his hands. "Ninja Art: Sticky Spider Thread!" He pulled out six strands of gold colored silk that solidified into crude, hooked throwing knives. "Let's make the first kill entertaining. I'll play a little game and find out which girl is the real one."

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, worried for his crush.

"Let's try the one on the end first," Kidomaru said, throwing one of his weapons into that Sakura, which melted into mud. "Oh well. Next." He threw a blade into another Sakura, that one melting into mud as well. "You're lucky. Let's try two at once and double the odds in my favor!" Another two Sakuras were pierced, both becoming mud. Kidomaru laughed at that. "You are one lucky girl! But this time, it's 50/50!" he exclaimed as he threw a blade into one of the remaining Sakuras, turning it to mud. "So she made it all the way to the end. Well, weakling, time to die!"

Sakura glared at the weakling comment. **"I trained under Lady Hokage, I held my own against Ling, I became a chunin!"** she thought as she brought her hands together, weaving hand signs. **"I can't let it end here,"** she thought as Kidomaru threw his blade at her. Time seemed to slow as she finished her hand signs. **"I'm not... going to die here!"** Kidomaru's blade struck her, but was deflected off her chest.

"What?" Kidomaru gasped as Sakura formed a chakra scalpel on each hand and cut through the web, freeing herself and removing her damaged vest, revealing a tear in her dress. Just large enough to reveal black skin. "It can't be!" He had heard stories of this power from Orochimaru.

Sakura smirked at his shock as she landed on a branch. "Steel Style: Ultimate Shield."

"No way! The Steel Style Kekkei Tota?" Kidomaru asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. I'm Sakura Haruno, heiress of the Hidden Leaf Village's Haruno clan!" As Sakura spoke, Neji came out of nowhere and freed Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Akamaru.

"Thanks for stalling him, Sakura," Neji said.

"No problem," Sakura said, undoing her Ultimate Shield. "I'll fight this one. You guys go one ahead. If we all stay put here, we won't be able to catch up with Sasuke in time. Wherever he is, Sasuke is in the darkness. We can't allow Orochimaru to have him."

"Be careful, Sakura-chan," Naruto said.

Sakura could hear the worry in his voice, and turned to look at him, giving him a smile. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. I promise I won't die." Her smile then turned to a frown. "Now get going! We don't have time to waste!"

"Right!" Naruto said with a scared voiced, heading off with Neji, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shikamaru in tow.

Kidomaru spat out spider silk tipped in sticky thread and threw it in a web at them. "No you don't!"

Sakura quickly formed chakra scalpels on her hands hand cut the web apart before it could reach her teammates. "To get to them, you go through me," she said, taking a stance and armoring her hands with the Ultimate Shield.

Kidomaru grinned and started spitting web after web at Sakura, who deftly sliced them apart with her chakra scalpels. But eventually, Sakura got hit and pinned against a tree. "I see. You use your chakra to make scalpels on your hands, and use them to cut through the silk. But without being able to move, you can't use that ability, and without hand signs, you can't use that Kekkei Tota of yours. I was going to play with you for three minutes before killing you, but I'm bored after just a minute. So I'll finish you off now." Kidomaru started molding silk in his mouth after he finished talking.

Sakura took a breath to calm herself. **"Easy, Sakura. He's underestimating you. That means you have the advantage. I need to focus my chakra into multiple points throughout my body,"** she thought as she started focusing her chakra.

Kidomaru finished molding his silk and spat out a spear of his Sticky Spider Thread at Sakura. Much to his shock, the web holding Sakura was blown away from her, freeing her just in time to dodge the spear and let it hit the spot on the tree where she had just been.

Sakura landed on the spear and ran along its length to Kidomaru. "You thought I couldn't escape without my chakra scalpels. But I'm a medical ninja, meaning that my chakra control is top notch, allowing me to release chakra from any of my chakra points!" As she spoke, Sakura formed a chakra scalpel on each hand. "Now you die."

Kidomaru bit his spear off and moved to dodge Sakura's attack, but Sakura proved too fast, and struck him multiple times, knocking him through a tree to the ground.

Sakura landed across from the spot where he landed. "Got him." Her look of triumph turned to shock as the smoke cleared, revealing that Kidomaru was still standing. Though his body was covered by some sort of armor.

Kidomaru grinned as the armor cracked and fell off his body. "That's right. My Sticky Spider Thread is a type of metal. It hardens on contact with the air, and doesn't allow chakra to pass through it. So it's perfect protection against a medical ninja's chakra scalpels. And as you can see, not only can I secrete it from my mouth, but also from every sweat gland in my body," he said, armoring his wrist as a demonstration before letting the armor fall off.

Sakura stared him down, neither of them blinking. **"If he can protect himself from my chakra scalpels with that armor, then I'll have to use my monster strength to smash through it."** Sakura then noticed that Kidomaru had vanished from sight, and readied herself for attack.

Kidomaru watched her from a nearby hiding place, hooking his finger around a silk thread wrapped around another of his fingers. **"The attack will come without any warning,"** he thought as he released the thread from around his finger.

Sakura heard the kunai coming and dodged it, seeing a paper bomb tied to it. When it didn't detonate, she realized what that meant. **"The paper bomb is a decoy!"** she thought as she jumped into the air, a number of Sticky Spider Thread kunai hitting the ground where she had just been standing. More came at her in the air. Putting her evasion training to use, Sakura twisted through the air to dodge and deflect the kunai, landing in a clearing.

Kidomaru moved to a spot above the clearing. "Not bad. You're pretty good at dodging. You might be more challenging than I first thought." As he spoke, Kidomaru activated the first level of his curse mark, which spread hook shaped marks over the left side of his body, particularly his left arms and left leg. "So let's take this game up a notch," he said as he bit his thumb and ran through hand signs before spreading those hands, revealing a small spider web held between his fingers, which he slapped another hand on. "Summoning Jutsu!" After the puff of smoke cleared, Kidomaru was standing on the back of a giant spider, which laid an egg sack as long as its body.

Sakura paled a bit before screaming. "Why did I stay and fight this guy? I hate spiders!"

A vein bulged on Kidomaru's forehead. "Hey! What's to hate about spiders? They're more scared of humans than humans are of them!"

"Say that after you wake up and find one staring at your face!" Sakura yelled. "So hairy, and crawly, they're just so disgusting!"

"Alright! You just made this battle personal!" Kidomaru yelled as he made a Sticky Spider Thread kunai from his mouth and used his silk threads to swing past the spider's egg sack, cutting it open, revealing countless spiderlings the size of small dogs. Sakura nearly screamed at the sight, until Inner Sakura slapped her. Figuratively.

"_Get a grip! We have a mission to complete and a battle to win!"_ Inner Sakura snapped.

Sakura calmed down after her inner self did that. **"Right. Besides, this is the perfect chance to conquer my fear."**

"_Atta girl!"_ Inner Sakura said.

Sakura took a stance as the spiderlings jumped out of the egg sack, attacking Sakura, who ran through hand signs before taking a deep breath. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The fireball she exhaled killed the whole wave of spiderlings quickly. As she finished exhaling the fireball, a wave of Kidomaru's kunai came at her from several directions, which she dodged, save one that grazed her right shoulder.

"**I see. Her evasion isn't perfect,"** Kidomaru thought as he unleashed another wave of spiderlings, which Sakura began killing with her chakra scalpels before dodging more kunai, but grunted in pain when she felt one lodge itself in her back. Kidomaru grinned as he unleashed his next attack. **"Let's see if we can get two kunai through."** As he expected, Sakura managed to dodge the bulk of the wave, aside from two kunai joining the one in her back.

Sakura forced herself to stay on her feet despite the fact that her wounds were bleeding. The kunai wounds weren't bleeding as badly since the kunai were still embedded. Most people would have pulled them out, but Sakura knew better: that the bleeding would worsen if she pulled out the kunai. Taking a breath, she dodged another wave of kunai and killed more spiderlings before the giant spider dropped down in an attempt to crush her. Sakura watched the spider bulge and burst into silk after she struck it with a chakra scalpel. Her feeling of victory was short lived, as three more kunai lodged themselves into her back, knocking her down.

Kidomaru laughed out loud. "I told you before, girl! You're a weakling! Nothing but a trash character! You were Sasuke's teammate, right? No wonder he left the Leaf! Who could blame him when he had to deal with being slowed down by weaklings like you and that blond kid?" That struck a nerve. Sakura ignored the pain she was in and forced herself to stand. **"Still alive. I need to work on my aim,"** Kidomaru thought as he activated the second stage of his curse mark, his skin turning red, his muscles bulging more, spikes growing on his elbows and forehead, knocking his headband off as a third eye on his forehead opened. He then formed a bow from his Sticky Spider Thread, along with an arrow. As he pulled back the bowstring, he carefully aimed his shot before letting the arrow fly.

Sakura heard the arrow coming and tried to dodge, but only managed to move to where it went through her left shoulder. "Those arrows are fast," she muttered as blood ran down her arm.

"**So she was able to move and change the arrow's trajectory,"** Kidomaru thought as he made another arrow, this time attaching a silk thread to it in order to be able to change its trajectory mid-flight. Sakura started running as he aimed, trying to make it harder for him to hit something vital, and to buy time to heal herself.

"Gotta keep moving," Sakura muttered as she started healing the hole in her shoulder, only managing to staunch the bleeding before she heard the arrow flying and tear up a tree. Thinking fast, Sakura dodged behind a tree, which the arrow tore through, nicking her temple and knocking her headband off, allowing her bangs to fall over her forehead. As she reached up and started stopping her temple's bleeding, Sakura noticed the thread connected to the arrow. **"I won't be able to dodge the next one, but if he's using a thread to control their trajectory, then I can use that against him."** Her plan in mind, Sakura started running again.

"She's stubborn," Kidomaru muttered as he made another arrow, this one having a drill head. "Well, if the trees are throwing off the trajectory, then I'll put some spin on this arrow." Kidomaru carefully aimed his shot before letting the arrow fly.

Sakura heard the arrow tear through several trees on its way to her. Waiting for the right moment, Sakura turned and allowed the arrow to pierce the lower right side of her abdomen, missing anything vital and knocking her into a tree with its momentum as it tore through the tree and into the ground. Sakura bit her lip to avoid screaming in pain. Her lip ended up bleeding before she stopped biting it. But despite the pain, Sakura couldn't help but smirk as she grabbed the silk thread with both hands. "You little..." she muttered as she pulled the thread taut, surprising Kidomaru. "GET OVER HERE!" she screamed as she yanked Kidomaru toward her with all her strength, smirking at the shocked look on his face as she cocked her fist back, coating it in chakra and punched Kidomaru in the chest, knocking him into the ground and making a crater.

Kidomaru felt like his body was on fire. Sakura's punch had caused a number of his organs to rupture, and a broken rib had torn open one of his lungs. "How?"

"By focusing chakra into my fist and releasing it just as my punch connects, it increases my already considerable strength tenfold," Sakura said, forming a chakra scalpel on her hand, severing the thread from the arrow before tearing Kidomaru's heart to shreds, killing him. Sakura stumbled out of the crater and started healing her wounds. When she found that she didn't have enough chakra, she released the Reserve Seal and used the extra chakra to heal her wounds and replenish her chakra reserves before reapplying the seal. "Ling will want you," she muttered as she pulled out a scroll with a blank sealing array and sealed Kidomaru's corpse in it. "Alright, now to catch up with the others." With that, she headed off in the direction her comrades had gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Finally finished the chapter. Sorry to keep everyone waiting. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Until next time, I bid you all a most respectful farewell.


End file.
